diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 86eb77b82a..c8c869faed 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -397,9 +397,12 @@ static int match_pathspec_item(struct index_state *istate,
 	    strncmp(item->match, name - prefix, item->prefix))
 		return 0;
 
-	if (item->attr_match_nr &&
-	    !match_pathspec_attrs(istate, name - prefix, namelen + prefix, item))
-		return 0;
+	if (item->attr_match_nr) {
+		if (!istate)
+			BUG("magic PATHSPEC_ATTR requires an index");
+		if (!match_pathspec_attrs(istate, name - prefix, namelen + prefix, item))
+			return 0;
+	}
 
 	/* If the match was just the prefix, we matched */
 	if (!*match)
diff --git a/pathspec.c b/pathspec.c
index 2b4e434bc0..a3ddd701c7 100644
--- a/pathspec.c
+++ b/pathspec.c
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ static void init_pathspec_item(struct pathspec_item *item, unsigned flags,
 		if (!match) {
 			const char *hint_path;
 
-			if (!have_git_dir())
+			if ((flags & PATHSPEC_NO_REPOSITORY) || !have_git_dir())
 				die(_("'%s' is outside the directory tree"),
 				    copyfrom);
 			hint_path = repo_get_work_tree(the_repository);
@@ -614,6 +614,10 @@ void parse_pathspec(struct pathspec *pathspec,
 	    (flags & PATHSPEC_PREFER_FULL))
 		BUG("PATHSPEC_PREFER_CWD and PATHSPEC_PREFER_FULL are incompatible");
 
+	if ((flags & PATHSPEC_NO_REPOSITORY) &&
+	    (~magic_mask & (PATHSPEC_ATTR | PATHSPEC_FROMTOP)))
+		BUG("PATHSPEC_NO_REPOSITORY is incompatible with PATHSPEC_ATTR and PATHSPEC_FROMTOP");
+
 	/* No arguments with prefix -> prefix pathspec */
 	if (!entry) {
 		if (flags & PATHSPEC_PREFER_FULL)
diff --git a/pathspec.h b/pathspec.h
index cda3eb5b91..5e3a6f1fe7 100644
--- a/pathspec.h
+++ b/pathspec.h
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ struct pathspec {
  * allowed, then it will automatically set for every pathspec.
  */
 #define PATHSPEC_LITERAL_PATH (1<<6)
+/*
+ * For git diff --no-index, indicate that we are operating without
+ * a repository or index.
+ */
+#define PATHSPEC_NO_REPOSITORY (1<<7)
 
 /**
  * Given command line arguments and a prefix, convert the input to