diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index b2ca775a80..f8288c830c 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -193,25 +193,28 @@ static size_t expand_format(struct strbuf *sb, const char *start, void *data)
 	return end - start + 1;
 }
 
-static void print_object_or_die(int fd, const unsigned char *sha1,
-				enum object_type type, unsigned long size)
+static void print_object_or_die(int fd, struct expand_data *data)
 {
-	if (type == OBJ_BLOB) {
+	const unsigned char *sha1 = data->sha1;
+
+	assert(data->info.typep);
+
+	if (data->type == OBJ_BLOB) {
 		if (stream_blob_to_fd(fd, sha1, NULL, 0) < 0)
 			die("unable to stream %s to stdout", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 	}
 	else {
-		enum object_type rtype;
-		unsigned long rsize;
+		enum object_type type;
+		unsigned long size;
 		void *contents;
 
-		contents = read_sha1_file(sha1, &rtype, &rsize);
+		contents = read_sha1_file(sha1, &type, &size);
 		if (!contents)
 			die("object %s disappeared", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
-		if (rtype != type)
+		if (type != data->type)
 			die("object %s changed type!?", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
-		if (rsize != size)
-			die("object %s change size!?", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+		if (data->info.sizep && size != data->size)
+			die("object %s changed size!?", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 
 		write_or_die(fd, contents, size);
 		free(contents);
@@ -250,7 +253,7 @@ static int batch_one_object(const char *obj_name, struct batch_options *opt,
 	strbuf_release(&buf);
 
 	if (opt->print_contents) {
-		print_object_or_die(1, data->sha1, data->type, data->size);
+		print_object_or_die(1, data);
 		write_or_die(1, "\n", 1);
 	}
 	return 0;
@@ -274,6 +277,13 @@ static int batch_objects(struct batch_options *opt)
 	strbuf_expand(&buf, opt->format, expand_format, &data);
 	data.mark_query = 0;
 
+	/*
+	 * If we are printing out the object, then always fill in the type,
+	 * since we will want to decide whether or not to stream.
+	 */
+	if (opt->print_contents)
+		data.info.typep = &data.type;
+
 	/*
 	 * We are going to call get_sha1 on a potentially very large number of
 	 * objects. In most large cases, these will be actual object sha1s. The
diff --git a/t/t1006-cat-file.sh b/t/t1006-cat-file.sh
index 8a1bc5c532..1687098355 100755
--- a/t/t1006-cat-file.sh
+++ b/t/t1006-cat-file.sh
@@ -85,6 +85,28 @@ $content"
 		git cat-file --batch-check="%(objecttype) %(rest)" >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
     '
+
+    test -z "$content" ||
+    test_expect_success "--batch without type ($type)" '
+	{
+		echo "$size" &&
+		maybe_remove_timestamp "$content" $no_ts
+	} >expect &&
+	echo $sha1 | git cat-file --batch="%(objectsize)" >actual.full &&
+	maybe_remove_timestamp "$(cat actual.full)" $no_ts >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+    '
+
+    test -z "$content" ||
+    test_expect_success "--batch without size ($type)" '
+	{
+		echo "$type" &&
+		maybe_remove_timestamp "$content" $no_ts
+	} >expect &&
+	echo $sha1 | git cat-file --batch="%(objecttype)" >actual.full &&
+	maybe_remove_timestamp "$(cat actual.full)" $no_ts >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+    '
 }
 
 hello_content="Hello World"