diff --git a/builtin/send-pack.c b/builtin/send-pack.c
index f6e5d643c1..19f0577fa0 100644
--- a/builtin/send-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/send-pack.c
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ int cmd_send_pack(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	 * --all and --mirror are incompatible; neither makes sense
 	 * with any refspecs.
 	 */
-	if ((refspecs && (send_all || args.send_mirror)) ||
+	if ((nr_refspecs > 0 && (send_all || args.send_mirror)) ||
 	    (send_all && args.send_mirror))
 		usage_with_options(send_pack_usage, options);
 
diff --git a/t/t5400-send-pack.sh b/t/t5400-send-pack.sh
index 04cea97f87..305ca7a930 100755
--- a/t/t5400-send-pack.sh
+++ b/t/t5400-send-pack.sh
@@ -128,6 +128,18 @@ test_expect_success 'denyNonFastforwards trumps --force' '
 	test "$victim_orig" = "$victim_head"
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'send-pack --all sends all branches' '
+	# make sure we have at least 2 branches with different
+	# values, just to be thorough
+	git branch other-branch HEAD^ &&
+
+	git init --bare all.git &&
+	git send-pack --all all.git &&
+	git for-each-ref refs/heads >expect &&
+	git -C all.git for-each-ref refs/heads >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'push --all excludes remote-tracking hierarchy' '
 	mkdir parent &&
 	(