diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index c171def1f3..6dc89f1058 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -914,6 +914,7 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int err = 0, complete_refs_before_fetch = 1;
 	int submodule_progress;
 	int filter_submodules = 0;
+	int hash_algo;
 
 	struct transport_ls_refs_options transport_ls_refs_options =
 		TRANSPORT_LS_REFS_OPTIONS_INIT;
@@ -1302,15 +1303,15 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (mapped_refs) {
-		int hash_algo = hash_algo_by_ptr(transport_get_hash_algo(transport));
-
 		/*
 		 * Now that we know what algorithm the remote side is using,
 		 * let's set ours to the same thing.
 		 */
-		initialize_repository_version(hash_algo, 1);
-		repo_set_hash_algo(the_repository, hash_algo);
+	hash_algo = hash_algo_by_ptr(transport_get_hash_algo(transport));
+	initialize_repository_version(hash_algo, 1);
+	repo_set_hash_algo(the_repository, hash_algo);
+
+	if (mapped_refs) {
 		/*
 		 * transport_get_remote_refs() may return refs with null sha-1
 		 * in mapped_refs (see struct transport->get_refs_list
diff --git a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
index 71aabe30b7..6af5c2062f 100755
--- a/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
+++ b/t/t5702-protocol-v2.sh
@@ -269,6 +269,17 @@ test_expect_success 'clone propagates unborn HEAD from non-empty repo' '
 	grep "warning: remote HEAD refers to nonexistent ref" stderr
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'clone propagates object-format from empty repo' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -fr src256 dst256" &&
+
+	echo sha256 >expect &&
+	git init --object-format=sha256 src256 &&
+	git clone src256 dst256 &&
+	git -C dst256 rev-parse --show-object-format >actual &&
+
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'bare clone propagates unborn HEAD from non-empty repo' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf file_unborn_parent file_unborn_child.git" &&