diff --git a/midx.c b/midx.c
index 1d6269f957..79c890cf1b 100644
--- a/midx.c
+++ b/midx.c
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ int midx_preferred_pack(struct multi_pack_index *m, uint32_t *pack_int_id)
 {
 	if (m->preferred_pack_idx == -1) {
 		uint32_t midx_pos;
-		if (load_midx_revindex(m) < 0) {
+		if (load_midx_revindex(m)) {
 			m->preferred_pack_idx = -2;
 			return -1;
 		}
diff --git a/pack-revindex.h b/pack-revindex.h
index 422c2487ae..0042892091 100644
--- a/pack-revindex.h
+++ b/pack-revindex.h
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ int verify_pack_revindex(struct packed_git *p);
  * multi-pack index by mmap-ing it and assigning pointers in the
  * multi_pack_index to point at it.
  *
- * A negative number is returned on error.
+ * A negative number is returned on error. A positive number is returned in
+ * case the multi-pack-index does not have a reverse index.
  */
 int load_midx_revindex(struct multi_pack_index *m);
 
diff --git a/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh b/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh
index 93f319a4b2..9492a9737b 100755
--- a/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh
+++ b/t/t5319-multi-pack-index.sh
@@ -350,7 +350,20 @@ test_expect_success 'preferred pack from existing MIDX without bitmaps' '
 		# the new MIDX
 		git multi-pack-index write --preferred-pack=pack-$pack.pack
 	)
+'
 
+test_expect_success 'preferred pack cannot be determined without bitmap' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr preferred-can-be-queried" &&
+	git init preferred-can-be-queried &&
+	(
+		cd preferred-can-be-queried &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		git repack -Adl --write-midx --no-write-bitmap-index &&
+		test_must_fail test-tool read-midx --preferred-pack .git/objects 2>err &&
+		test_grep "could not determine MIDX preferred pack" err &&
+		git repack -Adl --write-midx --write-bitmap-index &&
+		test-tool read-midx --preferred-pack .git/objects
+	)
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'verify multi-pack-index success' '