diff --git a/src/libfetchers/git.cc b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
index 81c647f89..4f9db1bcd 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/git.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/git.cc
@@ -153,12 +153,14 @@ struct GitInputScheme : InputScheme
 
     std::pair<bool, std::string> getActualUrl(const Input & input) const
     {
-        // Don't clone file:// URIs (but otherwise treat them the
-        // same as remote URIs, i.e. don't use the working tree or
-        // HEAD).
+        // file:// URIs are normally not cloned (but otherwise treated the
+        // same as remote URIs, i.e. we don't use the working tree or
+        // HEAD). Exception: If _NIX_FORCE_HTTP is set, or the repo is a bare git
+        // repo, treat as a remote URI to force a clone.
         static bool forceHttp = getEnv("_NIX_FORCE_HTTP") == "1"; // for testing
         auto url = parseURL(getStrAttr(input.attrs, "url"));
-        bool isLocal = url.scheme == "file" && !forceHttp;
+        bool isBareRepository = url.scheme == "file" && !pathExists(url.path + "/.git");
+        bool isLocal = url.scheme == "file" && !forceHttp && !isBareRepository;
         return {isLocal, isLocal ? url.path : url.base};
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/flakes.sh b/tests/flakes.sh
index 25ba2ac43..9747aba7a 100644
--- a/tests/flakes.sh
+++ b/tests/flakes.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ templatesDir=$TEST_ROOT/templates
 nonFlakeDir=$TEST_ROOT/nonFlake
 flakeA=$TEST_ROOT/flakeA
 flakeB=$TEST_ROOT/flakeB
+flakeGitBare=$TEST_ROOT/flakeGitBare
 
 for repo in $flake1Dir $flake2Dir $flake3Dir $flake7Dir $templatesDir $nonFlakeDir $flakeA $flakeB; do
     rm -rf $repo $repo.tmp
@@ -604,6 +605,11 @@ nix flake update $flake3Dir
 [[ $(jq -c .nodes.flake2.inputs.flake1 $flake3Dir/flake.lock) =~ '["foo"]' ]]
 [[ $(jq .nodes.foo.locked.url $flake3Dir/flake.lock) =~ flake7 ]]
 
+# Test git+file with bare repo.
+rm -rf $flakeGitBare
+git clone --bare $flake1Dir $flakeGitBare
+nix build -o $TEST_ROOT/result git+file://$flakeGitBare
+
 # Test Mercurial flakes.
 rm -rf $flake5Dir
 hg init $flake5Dir