diff --git a/promisor-remote.c b/promisor-remote.c
index 9bc296cdde..9bd5b79d59 100644
--- a/promisor-remote.c
+++ b/promisor-remote.c
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ static struct promisor_remote *promisor_remote_lookup(const char *remote_name,
 static void promisor_remote_move_to_tail(struct promisor_remote *r,
 					 struct promisor_remote *previous)
 {
+	if (r->next == NULL)
+		return;
+
 	if (previous)
 		previous->next = r->next;
 	else
diff --git a/promisor-remote.h b/promisor-remote.h
index 8200dfc940..c60aaa5cce 100644
--- a/promisor-remote.h
+++ b/promisor-remote.h
@@ -15,17 +15,17 @@ struct promisor_remote {
 	const char name[FLEX_ARRAY];
 };
 
-extern void promisor_remote_reinit(void);
-extern struct promisor_remote *promisor_remote_find(const char *remote_name);
-extern int has_promisor_remote(void);
-extern int promisor_remote_get_direct(struct repository *repo,
-				      const struct object_id *oids,
-				      int oid_nr);
+void promisor_remote_reinit(void);
+struct promisor_remote *promisor_remote_find(const char *remote_name);
+int has_promisor_remote(void);
+int promisor_remote_get_direct(struct repository *repo,
+			       const struct object_id *oids,
+			       int oid_nr);
 
 /*
  * This should be used only once from setup.c to set the value we got
  * from the extensions.partialclone config option.
  */
-extern void set_repository_format_partial_clone(char *partial_clone);
+void set_repository_format_partial_clone(char *partial_clone);
 
 #endif /* PROMISOR_REMOTE_H */
diff --git a/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh b/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh
index 1e389c049a..a3988bd4b8 100755
--- a/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t0410-partial-clone.sh
@@ -429,6 +429,19 @@ test_expect_success 'rev-list dies for missing objects on cmd line' '
 	done
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'single promisor remote can be re-initialized gracefully' '
+	# ensure one promisor is in the promisors list
+	rm -rf repo &&
+	test_create_repo repo &&
+	test_create_repo other &&
+	git -C repo remote add foo "file://$(pwd)/other" &&
+	git -C repo config remote.foo.promisor true &&
+	git -C repo config extensions.partialclone foo &&
+
+	# reinitialize the promisors list
+	git -C repo fetch --filter=blob:none foo
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'gc repacks promisor objects separately from non-promisor objects' '
 	rm -rf repo &&
 	test_create_repo repo &&