diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index b76e2c0451..44ecc22e52 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -1100,7 +1100,7 @@ int cmd_checkout(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (opts.writeout_stage)
 		die(_("--ours/--theirs is incompatible with switching branches."));
 
-	if (!new.commit) {
+	if (!new.commit && opts.new_branch) {
 		unsigned char rev[20];
 		int flag;
 
diff --git a/t/t2015-checkout-unborn.sh b/t/t2015-checkout-unborn.sh
index 6352b74e2e..37bdcedcc9 100755
--- a/t/t2015-checkout-unborn.sh
+++ b/t/t2015-checkout-unborn.sh
@@ -46,4 +46,15 @@ test_expect_success 'checking out another branch from unborn state' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'checking out in a newly created repo' '
+	test_create_repo empty &&
+	(
+		cd empty &&
+		git symbolic-ref HEAD >expect &&
+		test_must_fail git checkout &&
+		git symbolic-ref HEAD >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 test_done