diff --git a/t/t0003-attributes.sh b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
index 143f100517..f7ee2f2ff0 100755
--- a/t/t0003-attributes.sh
+++ b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 test_description=gitattributes
 
 TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 attr_check_basic () {
@@ -284,7 +285,7 @@ test_expect_success 'using --git-dir and --work-tree' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'setup bare' '
-	git clone --bare . bare.git
+	git clone --template= --bare . bare.git
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'bare repository: check that .gitattribute is ignored' '
@@ -315,6 +316,7 @@ test_expect_success 'bare repository: check that --cached honors index' '
 test_expect_success 'bare repository: test info/attributes' '
 	(
 		cd bare.git &&
+		mkdir info &&
 		(
 			echo "f	test=f" &&
 			echo "a/i test=a/i"
@@ -360,6 +362,7 @@ test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlinks respected in core.attributesFile' '
 
 test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'symlinks respected in info/attributes' '
 	test_when_finished "rm .git/info/attributes" &&
+	mkdir .git/info &&
 	ln -s ../../attr .git/info/attributes &&
 	attr_check file set
 '
diff --git a/t/t0028-working-tree-encoding.sh b/t/t0028-working-tree-encoding.sh
index 82905a2156..7140960e1a 100755
--- a/t/t0028-working-tree-encoding.sh
+++ b/t/t0028-working-tree-encoding.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ test_description='working-tree-encoding conversion via gitattributes'
 GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY/lib-encoding.sh"
 
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ test_expect_success 'check $GIT_DIR/info/attributes support' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -f test.utf32.git" &&
 	test_when_finished "git reset --hard HEAD" &&
 
+	mkdir .git/info &&
 	echo "*.utf32 text working-tree-encoding=utf-32" >.git/info/attributes &&
 	git add test.utf32 &&
 
diff --git a/t/t5000-tar-tree.sh b/t/t5000-tar-tree.sh
index 7f8d2ab0a7..de192b52c4 100755
--- a/t/t5000-tar-tree.sh
+++ b/t/t5000-tar-tree.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ commit id embedding:
 
 '
 
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 SUBSTFORMAT=%H%n
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@ test_expect_success 'populate workdir' '
 test_expect_success \
     'add ignored file' \
     'echo ignore me >a/ignored &&
+     mkdir .git/info &&
      echo ignored export-ignore >.git/info/attributes'
 
 test_expect_success 'add files to repository' '
@@ -157,7 +159,8 @@ test_expect_success 'setup export-subst' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'create bare clone' '
-	git clone --bare . bare.git &&
+	git clone --template= --bare . bare.git &&
+	mkdir bare.git/info &&
 	cp .git/info/attributes bare.git/info/attributes
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh b/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh
index 712ae52299..2f6eef5e37 100755
--- a/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh
+++ b/t/t5001-archive-attr.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 test_description='git archive attribute tests'
 
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 SUBSTFORMAT='%H (%h)%n'
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ extract_tar_to_dir () {
 
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	echo ignored >ignored &&
+	mkdir .git/info &&
 	echo ignored export-ignore >>.git/info/attributes &&
 	git add ignored &&
 
@@ -46,7 +48,8 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 
 	git commit -m. &&
 
-	git clone --bare . bare &&
+	git clone --template= --bare . bare &&
+	mkdir bare/info &&
 	cp .git/info/attributes bare/info/attributes
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t5002-archive-attr-pattern.sh b/t/t5002-archive-attr-pattern.sh
index a66b5ba27e..78ab75f1bc 100755
--- a/t/t5002-archive-attr-pattern.sh
+++ b/t/t5002-archive-attr-pattern.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 test_description='git archive attribute pattern tests'
 
 TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_exists() {
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ test_expect_missing() {
 
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	echo ignored >ignored &&
+	mkdir .git/info &&
 	echo ignored export-ignore >>.git/info/attributes &&
 	git add ignored &&
 
@@ -54,7 +56,8 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 
 	git commit -m. &&
 
-	git clone --bare . bare &&
+	git clone --template= --bare . bare &&
+	mkdir bare/info &&
 	cp .git/info/attributes bare/info/attributes
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t5003-archive-zip.sh b/t/t5003-archive-zip.sh
index d726964307..a7bbfcb7f7 100755
--- a/t/t5003-archive-zip.sh
+++ b/t/t5003-archive-zip.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 test_description='git archive --format=zip test'
 
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 SUBSTFORMAT=%H%n
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ test_expect_success 'prepare file list' '
 test_expect_success \
     'add ignored file' \
     'echo ignore me >a/ignored &&
+     mkdir .git/info &&
      echo ignored export-ignore >.git/info/attributes'
 
 test_expect_success 'add files to repository' '
@@ -139,7 +141,8 @@ test_expect_success 'setup export-subst and diff attributes' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'create bare clone' '
-	git clone --bare . bare.git &&
+	git clone --template= --bare . bare.git &&
+	mkdir bare.git/info &&
 	cp .git/info/attributes bare.git/info/attributes &&
 	# Recreate our changes to .git/config rather than just copying it, as
 	# we do not want to clobber core.bare or other settings.
diff --git a/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh b/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
index a4476dc492..3ad80526c4 100755
--- a/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
+++ b/t/t7814-grep-recurse-submodules.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ This test verifies the recurse-submodules feature correctly greps across
 submodules.
 '
 
+TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 GIT_TEST_FATAL_REGISTER_SUBMODULE_ODB=1
@@ -471,8 +472,10 @@ test_expect_failure 'grep --textconv: superproject .gitattributes (from index) d
 test_expect_failure 'grep --textconv: superproject .git/info/attributes does not affect submodules' '
 	reset_and_clean &&
 	test_config_global diff.d2x.textconv "sed -e \"s/d/x/\"" &&
-	super_attr="$(git rev-parse --git-path info/attributes)" &&
+	super_info="$(git rev-parse --git-path info)" &&
+	super_attr="$super_info/attributes" &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f \"$super_attr\"" &&
+	mkdir "$super_info" &&
 	echo "a diff=d2x" >"$super_attr" &&
 
 	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
@@ -516,7 +519,8 @@ test_expect_failure 'grep --textconv correctly reads submodule .git/info/attribu
 	reset_and_clean &&
 	test_config_global diff.d2x.textconv "sed -e \"s/d/x/\"" &&
 
-	submodule_attr="$(git -C submodule rev-parse --path-format=absolute --git-path info/attributes)" &&
+	submodule_info="$(git -C submodule rev-parse --path-format=absolute --git-path info)" &&
+	submodule_attr="$submodule_info/attributes" &&
 	test_when_finished "rm -f \"$submodule_attr\"" &&
 	echo "a diff=d2x" >"$submodule_attr" &&