diff --git a/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh b/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh
index 6d9142afc3..259203926a 100755
--- a/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh
+++ b/t/t5550-http-fetch-dumb.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
+
+if test_have_prereq !REFFILES
+then
+	skip_all='skipping test; dumb HTTP protocol not supported with reftable.'
+	test_done
+fi
+
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-httpd.sh
 start_httpd