diff --git a/tree-diff.c b/tree-diff.c
index 4d85fef5d0..1b41b7f450 100644
--- a/tree-diff.c
+++ b/tree-diff.c
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ static int tree_entry_interesting(struct tree_desc *desc, const char *base, int
 	int never_interesting = -1;
 
 	if (!opt->nr_paths)
-		return 1;
+		return 2;
 
 	sha1 = tree_entry_extract(desc, &path, &mode);