1 files changed, 3 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/builtin-clean.c b/builtin-clean.c
index 28cdcd0274..3a70fa81bd 100644
--- a/builtin-clean.c
+++ b/builtin-clean.c
@@ -75,11 +75,13 @@ int cmd_clean(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	dir.flags |= DIR_SHOW_OTHER_DIRECTORIES;
 
+	if (read_cache() < 0)
+		die("index file corrupt");
+
 	if (!ignored)
 		setup_standard_excludes(&dir);
 
 	pathspec = get_pathspec(prefix, argv);
-	read_cache();
 
 	fill_directory(&dir, pathspec);