diff --git a/commands/command_clone.go b/commands/command_clone.go
index 0bf1ca71..dd5ecdbf 100644
--- a/commands/command_clone.go
+++ b/commands/command_clone.go
@@ -85,17 +85,19 @@ func cloneCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		remote = "origin"
 	}
 
-	includeArg, excludeArg := getIncludeExcludeArgs(cmd)
-	filter := buildFilepathFilter(cfg, includeArg, excludeArg)
-	if cloneFlags.NoCheckout || cloneFlags.Bare {
-		// If --no-checkout or --bare then we shouldn't check out, just fetch instead
-		cfg.CurrentRemote = remote
-		fetchRef("HEAD", filter)
-	} else {
-		pull(remote, filter)
-		err := postCloneSubmodules(args)
-		if err != nil {
-			Exit("Error performing 'git lfs pull' for submodules: %v", err)
+	if ref, err := git.CurrentRef(); err == nil {
+		includeArg, excludeArg := getIncludeExcludeArgs(cmd)
+		filter := buildFilepathFilter(cfg, includeArg, excludeArg)
+		if cloneFlags.NoCheckout || cloneFlags.Bare {
+			// If --no-checkout or --bare then we shouldn't check out, just fetch instead
+			cfg.CurrentRemote = remote
+			fetchRef(ref.Name, filter)
+		} else {
+			pull(remote, filter)
+			err := postCloneSubmodules(args)
+			if err != nil {
+				Exit("Error performing 'git lfs pull' for submodules: %v", err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/test-clone.sh b/test/test-clone.sh
index 2a325fdf..c394ad21 100755
--- a/test/test-clone.sh
+++ b/test/test-clone.sh
@@ -575,3 +575,35 @@ begin_test "clone in current directory"
   popd
 )
 end_test
+
+begin_test "clone empty repository"
+(
+  set -e
+
+  reponame="clone_empty"
+  setup_remote_repo "$reponame"
+
+  cd "$TRASHDIR"
+  git lfs clone "$GITSERVER/$reponame" "$reponame" 2>&1 | tee clone.log
+  if [ "0" -ne "${PIPESTATUS[0]}" ]; then
+    echo >&2 "fatal: expected clone to succeed ..."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+)
+end_test
+
+begin_test "clone bare empty repository"
+(
+  set -e
+
+  reponame="clone_bare_empty"
+  setup_remote_repo "$reponame"
+
+  cd "$TRASHDIR"
+  git lfs clone "$GITSERVER/$reponame" "$reponame" --bare 2>&1 | tee clone.log
+  if [ "0" -ne "${PIPESTATUS[0]}" ]; then
+    echo >&2 "fatal: expected clone to succeed ..."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+)
+end_test
\ No newline at end of file