diff --git a/builtin/diff-tree.c b/builtin/diff-tree.c
index d66499909e..b775a75647 100644
--- a/builtin/diff-tree.c
+++ b/builtin/diff-tree.c
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ int cmd_diff_tree(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	git_config(git_diff_basic_config, NULL); /* no "diff" UI options */
 	init_revisions(opt, prefix);
+	if (read_cache() < 0)
+		die(_("index file corrupt"));
 	opt->abbrev = 0;
 	opt->diff = 1;
 	opt->disable_stdin = 1;
diff --git a/t/t4015-diff-whitespace.sh b/t/t4015-diff-whitespace.sh
index 289806d0c7..c5fed4d075 100755
--- a/t/t4015-diff-whitespace.sh
+++ b/t/t4015-diff-whitespace.sh
@@ -608,6 +608,23 @@ test_expect_success 'check with space before tab in indent (diff-tree)' '
 	test_must_fail git diff-tree --check HEAD^ HEAD
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'check with ignored trailing whitespace attr (diff-tree)' '
+	test_when_finished "git reset --hard HEAD^" &&
+
+	# create a whitespace error that should be ignored
+	echo "* -whitespace" >.gitattributes &&
+	git add .gitattributes &&
+	echo "foo(); " >x &&
+	git add x &&
+	git commit -m "add trailing space" &&
+
+	# with a worktree diff-tree ignores the whitespace error
+	git diff-tree --root --check HEAD &&
+
+	# without a worktree diff-tree still ignores the whitespace error
+	git -C .git diff-tree --root --check HEAD
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'check trailing whitespace (trailing-space: off)' '
 	git config core.whitespace "-trailing-space" &&
 	echo "foo ();   " >x &&