diff --git a/builtin/rev-parse.c b/builtin/rev-parse.c
index cf8487b3b9..c961b74c5a 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-parse.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-parse.c
@@ -505,6 +505,7 @@ N_("git rev-parse --parseopt [<options>] -- [<args>...]\n"
 int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	int i, as_is = 0, verify = 0, quiet = 0, revs_count = 0, type = 0;
+	int did_repo_setup = 0;
 	int has_dashdash = 0;
 	int output_prefix = 0;
 	unsigned char sha1[20];
@@ -528,11 +529,40 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 	}
 
-	prefix = setup_git_directory();
-	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+	/* No options; just report on whether we're in a git repo or not. */
+	if (argc == 1) {
+		setup_git_directory();
+		git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		const char *arg = argv[i];
 
+		if (!strcmp(arg, "--local-env-vars")) {
+			int i;
+			for (i = 0; local_repo_env[i]; i++)
+				printf("%s\n", local_repo_env[i]);
+			continue;
+		}
+		if (!strcmp(arg, "--resolve-git-dir")) {
+			const char *gitdir = argv[++i];
+			if (!gitdir)
+				die("--resolve-git-dir requires an argument");
+			gitdir = resolve_gitdir(gitdir);
+			if (!gitdir)
+				die("not a gitdir '%s'", argv[i]);
+			puts(gitdir);
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		/* The rest of the options require a git repository. */
+		if (!did_repo_setup) {
+			prefix = setup_git_directory();
+			git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+			did_repo_setup = 1;
+		}
+
 		if (!strcmp(arg, "--git-path")) {
 			if (!argv[i + 1])
 				die("--git-path requires an argument");
@@ -706,12 +736,6 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				add_ref_exclusion(&ref_excludes, arg + 10);
 				continue;
 			}
-			if (!strcmp(arg, "--local-env-vars")) {
-				int i;
-				for (i = 0; local_repo_env[i]; i++)
-					printf("%s\n", local_repo_env[i]);
-				continue;
-			}
 			if (!strcmp(arg, "--show-toplevel")) {
 				const char *work_tree = get_git_work_tree();
 				if (work_tree)
@@ -767,16 +791,6 @@ int cmd_rev_parse(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				puts(prefix_filename(pfx, strlen(pfx), get_git_common_dir()));
 				continue;
 			}
-			if (!strcmp(arg, "--resolve-git-dir")) {
-				const char *gitdir = argv[++i];
-				if (!gitdir)
-					die("--resolve-git-dir requires an argument");
-				gitdir = resolve_gitdir(gitdir);
-				if (!gitdir)
-					die("not a gitdir '%s'", argv[i]);
-				puts(gitdir);
-				continue;
-			}
 			if (!strcmp(arg, "--is-inside-git-dir")) {
 				printf("%s\n", is_inside_git_dir() ? "true"
 						: "false");
diff --git a/t/t1515-rev-parse-outside-repo.sh b/t/t1515-rev-parse-outside-repo.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3ec2971ee5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t1515-rev-parse-outside-repo.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='check that certain rev-parse options work outside repo'
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'set up non-repo directory' '
+	GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=$(pwd) &&
+	export GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES &&
+	mkdir non-repo &&
+	cd non-repo &&
+	# confirm that git does not find a repo
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --git-dir
+'
+
+# Rather than directly test the output of sq-quote directly,
+# make sure the shell can read back a tricky case, since
+# that's what we really care about anyway.
+tricky="really tricky with \\ and \" and '"
+dump_args () {
+	for i in "$@"; do
+		echo "arg: $i"
+	done
+}
+test_expect_success 'rev-parse --sq-quote' '
+	dump_args "$tricky" easy >expect &&
+	eval "dump_args $(git rev-parse --sq-quote "$tricky" easy)" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rev-parse --local-env-vars' '
+	git rev-parse --local-env-vars >actual &&
+	# we do not want to depend on the complete list here,
+	# so just look for something plausible
+	grep ^GIT_DIR actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'rev-parse --resolve-git-dir' '
+	git init --separate-git-dir repo dir &&
+	test_must_fail git rev-parse --resolve-git-dir . &&
+	echo "$(pwd)/repo" >expect &&
+	git rev-parse --resolve-git-dir dir/.git >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done