diff --git a/Documentation/git-multi-pack-index.txt b/Documentation/git-multi-pack-index.txt
index c9b063d31e..0af6beb2dd 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-multi-pack-index.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-multi-pack-index.txt
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ OPTIONS
 	Use given directory for the location of Git objects. We check
 	`<dir>/packs/multi-pack-index` for the current MIDX file, and
 	`<dir>/packs` for the pack-files to index.
++
+`<dir>` must be an alternate of the current repository.
 
 --[no-]progress::
 	Turn progress on/off explicitly. If neither is specified, progress is
diff --git a/builtin/commit-graph.c b/builtin/commit-graph.c
index cd86315221..003eaaac5c 100644
--- a/builtin/commit-graph.c
+++ b/builtin/commit-graph.c
@@ -43,28 +43,6 @@ static struct opts_commit_graph {
 	int enable_changed_paths;
 } opts;
 
-static struct object_directory *find_odb(struct repository *r,
-					 const char *obj_dir)
-{
-	struct object_directory *odb;
-	char *obj_dir_real = real_pathdup(obj_dir, 1);
-	struct strbuf odb_path_real = STRBUF_INIT;
-
-	prepare_alt_odb(r);
-	for (odb = r->objects->odb; odb; odb = odb->next) {
-		strbuf_realpath(&odb_path_real, odb->path, 1);
-		if (!strcmp(obj_dir_real, odb_path_real.buf))
-			break;
-	}
-
-	free(obj_dir_real);
-	strbuf_release(&odb_path_real);
-
-	if (!odb)
-		die(_("could not find object directory matching %s"), obj_dir);
-	return odb;
-}
-
 static int graph_verify(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	struct commit_graph *graph = NULL;
diff --git a/midx.c b/midx.c
index e83f22b5ee..25906044ff 100644
--- a/midx.c
+++ b/midx.c
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ static int midx_checksum_valid(struct multi_pack_index *m)
 	return hashfile_checksum_valid(m->data, m->data_len);
 }
 
-static int write_midx_internal(const char *object_dir, struct multi_pack_index *m,
+static int write_midx_internal(const char *object_dir,
 			       struct string_list *packs_to_drop,
 			       const char *preferred_pack_name,
 			       unsigned flags)
@@ -904,20 +904,26 @@ static int write_midx_internal(const char *object_dir, struct multi_pack_index *
 	struct hashfile *f = NULL;
 	struct lock_file lk;
 	struct write_midx_context ctx = { 0 };
+	struct multi_pack_index *cur;
 	int pack_name_concat_len = 0;
 	int dropped_packs = 0;
 	int result = 0;
 	struct chunkfile *cf;
 
+	/* Ensure the given object_dir is local, or a known alternate. */
+	find_odb(the_repository, object_dir);
+
 	midx_name = get_midx_filename(object_dir);
 	if (safe_create_leading_directories(midx_name))
 		die_errno(_("unable to create leading directories of %s"),
 			  midx_name);
 
-	if (m)
-		ctx.m = m;
-	else
-		ctx.m = load_multi_pack_index(object_dir, 1);
+	for (cur = get_multi_pack_index(the_repository); cur; cur = cur->next) {
+		if (!strcmp(object_dir, cur->object_dir)) {
+			ctx.m = cur;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
 
 	if (ctx.m && !midx_checksum_valid(ctx.m)) {
 		warning(_("ignoring existing multi-pack-index; checksum mismatch"));
@@ -1119,7 +1125,7 @@ static int write_midx_internal(const char *object_dir, struct multi_pack_index *
 	f = hashfd(get_lock_file_fd(&lk), get_lock_file_path(&lk));
 
 	if (ctx.m)
-		close_midx(ctx.m);
+		close_object_store(the_repository->objects);
 
 	if (ctx.nr - dropped_packs == 0) {
 		error(_("no pack files to index."));
@@ -1182,8 +1188,7 @@ int write_midx_file(const char *object_dir,
 		    const char *preferred_pack_name,
 		    unsigned flags)
 {
-	return write_midx_internal(object_dir, NULL, NULL, preferred_pack_name,
-				   flags);
+	return write_midx_internal(object_dir, NULL, preferred_pack_name, flags);
 }
 
 struct clear_midx_data {
@@ -1461,8 +1466,10 @@ int expire_midx_packs(struct repository *r, const char *object_dir, unsigned fla
 
 	free(count);
 
-	if (packs_to_drop.nr)
-		result = write_midx_internal(object_dir, m, &packs_to_drop, NULL, flags);
+	if (packs_to_drop.nr) {
+		result = write_midx_internal(object_dir, &packs_to_drop, NULL, flags);
+		m = NULL;
+	}
 
 	string_list_clear(&packs_to_drop, 0);
 	return result;
@@ -1651,7 +1658,7 @@ int midx_repack(struct repository *r, const char *object_dir, size_t batch_size,
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
-	result = write_midx_internal(object_dir, m, NULL, NULL, flags);
+	result = write_midx_internal(object_dir, NULL, NULL, flags);
 	m = NULL;
 
 cleanup:
diff --git a/object-file.c b/object-file.c
index a8be899481..a4d720b4f5 100644
--- a/object-file.c
+++ b/object-file.c
@@ -820,6 +820,27 @@ char *compute_alternate_path(const char *path, struct strbuf *err)
 	return ref_git;
 }
 
+struct object_directory *find_odb(struct repository *r, const char *obj_dir)
+{
+	struct object_directory *odb;
+	char *obj_dir_real = real_pathdup(obj_dir, 1);
+	struct strbuf odb_path_real = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	prepare_alt_odb(r);
+	for (odb = r->objects->odb; odb; odb = odb->next) {
+		strbuf_realpath(&odb_path_real, odb->path, 1);
+		if (!strcmp(obj_dir_real, odb_path_real.buf))
+			break;
+	}
+
+	free(obj_dir_real);
+	strbuf_release(&odb_path_real);
+
+	if (!odb)
+		die(_("could not find object directory matching %s"), obj_dir);
+	return odb;
+}
+
 static void fill_alternate_refs_command(struct child_process *cmd,
 					const char *repo_path)
 {
diff --git a/object-store.h b/object-store.h
index d24915ced1..250aa5f33c 100644
--- a/object-store.h
+++ b/object-store.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ KHASH_INIT(odb_path_map, const char * /* key: odb_path */,
 
 void prepare_alt_odb(struct repository *r);
 char *compute_alternate_path(const char *path, struct strbuf *err);
+struct object_directory *find_odb(struct repository *r, const char *obj_dir);
 typedef int alt_odb_fn(struct object_directory *, void *);
 int foreach_alt_odb(alt_odb_fn, void*);
 typedef void alternate_ref_fn(const struct object_id *oid, void *);
diff --git a/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh b/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh
index d7e4988f2b..bd09c3194b 100755
--- a/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh
+++ b/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh
@@ -582,7 +582,15 @@ test_expect_success 'force some 64-bit offsets with pack-objects' '
 	idx64=objects64/pack/test-64-$pack64.idx &&
 	chmod u+w $idx64 &&
 	corrupt_data $idx64 $(test_oid idxoff) "\02" &&
-	midx64=$(git multi-pack-index --object-dir=objects64 write) &&
+	# objects64 is not a real repository, but can serve as an alternate
+	# anyway so we can write a MIDX into it
+	git init repo &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr repo" &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		( cd ../objects64 && pwd ) >.git/objects/info/alternates &&
+		midx64=$(git multi-pack-index --object-dir=../objects64 write)
+	) &&
 	midx_read_expect 1 63 5 objects64 " large-offsets"
 '