diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index 8044e21bcf..79d168192d 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -440,8 +440,9 @@ static int update_one(struct cache_tree *it,
 	} else if (dryrun) {
 		hash_object_file(the_hash_algo, buffer.buf, buffer.len,
 				 tree_type, &it->oid);
-	} else if (write_object_file(buffer.buf, buffer.len, tree_type,
-				     &it->oid)) {
+	} else if (write_object_file_flags(buffer.buf, buffer.len, tree_type,
+					   &it->oid, flags & WRITE_TREE_SILENT
+					   ? HASH_SILENT : 0)) {
 		strbuf_release(&buffer);
 		return -1;
 	}
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index acb67dbd64..eba12487b9 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -887,6 +887,7 @@ int ie_modified(struct index_state *, const struct cache_entry *, struct stat *,
 #define HASH_WRITE_OBJECT 1
 #define HASH_FORMAT_CHECK 2
 #define HASH_RENORMALIZE  4
+#define HASH_SILENT 8
 int index_fd(struct index_state *istate, struct object_id *oid, int fd, struct stat *st, enum object_type type, const char *path, unsigned flags);
 int index_path(struct index_state *istate, struct object_id *oid, const char *path, struct stat *st, unsigned flags);
 
diff --git a/object-file.c b/object-file.c
index b3e1718885..02b7970274 100644
--- a/object-file.c
+++ b/object-file.c
@@ -1862,7 +1862,7 @@ static int create_tmpfile(struct strbuf *tmp, const char *filename)
 
 static int write_loose_object(const struct object_id *oid, char *hdr,
 			      int hdrlen, const void *buf, unsigned long len,
-			      time_t mtime)
+			      time_t mtime, unsigned flags)
 {
 	int fd, ret;
 	unsigned char compressed[4096];
@@ -1876,7 +1876,9 @@ static int write_loose_object(const struct object_id *oid, char *hdr,
 
 	fd = create_tmpfile(&tmp_file, filename.buf);
 	if (fd < 0) {
-		if (errno == EACCES)
+		if (flags & HASH_SILENT)
+			return -1;
+		else if (errno == EACCES)
 			return error(_("insufficient permission for adding an object to repository database %s"), get_object_directory());
 		else
 			return error_errno(_("unable to create temporary file"));
@@ -1926,7 +1928,8 @@ static int write_loose_object(const struct object_id *oid, char *hdr,
 		struct utimbuf utb;
 		utb.actime = mtime;
 		utb.modtime = mtime;
-		if (utime(tmp_file.buf, &utb) < 0)
+		if (utime(tmp_file.buf, &utb) < 0 &&
+		    !(flags & HASH_SILENT))
 			warning_errno(_("failed utime() on %s"), tmp_file.buf);
 	}
 
@@ -1951,8 +1954,9 @@ static int freshen_packed_object(const struct object_id *oid)
 	return 1;
 }
 
-int write_object_file(const void *buf, unsigned long len, const char *type,
-		      struct object_id *oid)
+int write_object_file_flags(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
+			    const char *type, struct object_id *oid,
+			    unsigned flags)
 {
 	char hdr[MAX_HEADER_LEN];
 	int hdrlen = sizeof(hdr);
@@ -1964,7 +1968,7 @@ int write_object_file(const void *buf, unsigned long len, const char *type,
 				  &hdrlen);
 	if (freshen_packed_object(oid) || freshen_loose_object(oid))
 		return 0;
-	return write_loose_object(oid, hdr, hdrlen, buf, len, 0);
+	return write_loose_object(oid, hdr, hdrlen, buf, len, 0, flags);
 }
 
 int hash_object_file_literally(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
@@ -1984,7 +1988,7 @@ int hash_object_file_literally(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
 		goto cleanup;
 	if (freshen_packed_object(oid) || freshen_loose_object(oid))
 		goto cleanup;
-	status = write_loose_object(oid, header, hdrlen, buf, len, 0);
+	status = write_loose_object(oid, header, hdrlen, buf, len, 0, 0);
 
 cleanup:
 	free(header);
@@ -2006,7 +2010,7 @@ int force_object_loose(const struct object_id *oid, time_t mtime)
 	if (!buf)
 		return error(_("cannot read object for %s"), oid_to_hex(oid));
 	hdrlen = xsnprintf(hdr, sizeof(hdr), "%s %"PRIuMAX , type_name(type), (uintmax_t)len) + 1;
-	ret = write_loose_object(oid, hdr, hdrlen, buf, len, mtime);
+	ret = write_loose_object(oid, hdr, hdrlen, buf, len, mtime, 0);
 	free(buf);
 
 	return ret;
diff --git a/object-store.h b/object-store.h
index 07387dc48f..952efb6a4b 100644
--- a/object-store.h
+++ b/object-store.h
@@ -223,8 +223,14 @@ int hash_object_file(const struct git_hash_algo *algo, const void *buf,
 		     unsigned long len, const char *type,
 		     struct object_id *oid);
 
-int write_object_file(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
-		      const char *type, struct object_id *oid);
+int write_object_file_flags(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
+			    const char *type, struct object_id *oid,
+			    unsigned flags);
+static inline int write_object_file(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
+				    const char *type, struct object_id *oid)
+{
+	return write_object_file_flags(buf, len, type, oid, 0);
+}
 
 int hash_object_file_literally(const void *buf, unsigned long len,
 			       const char *type, struct object_id *oid,
diff --git a/t/t0004-unwritable.sh b/t/t0004-unwritable.sh
index 37d68ef03b..2e9d652d82 100755
--- a/t/t0004-unwritable.sh
+++ b/t/t0004-unwritable.sh
@@ -19,27 +19,66 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY 'write-tree should notice unwritable repository' '
 	test_when_finished "chmod 775 .git/objects .git/objects/??" &&
 	chmod a-w .git/objects .git/objects/?? &&
-	test_must_fail git write-tree
+	test_must_fail git write-tree 2>out.write-tree
+'
+
+test_lazy_prereq WRITE_TREE_OUT 'test -e "$TRASH_DIRECTORY"/out.write-tree'
+test_expect_success WRITE_TREE_OUT 'write-tree output on unwritable repository' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	error: insufficient permission for adding an object to repository database .git/objects
+	fatal: git-write-tree: error building trees
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect out.write-tree
 '
 
 test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY,!SANITIZE_LEAK 'commit should notice unwritable repository' '
 	test_when_finished "chmod 775 .git/objects .git/objects/??" &&
 	chmod a-w .git/objects .git/objects/?? &&
-	test_must_fail git commit -m second
+	test_must_fail git commit -m second 2>out.commit
+'
+
+test_lazy_prereq COMMIT_OUT 'test -e "$TRASH_DIRECTORY"/out.commit'
+test_expect_success COMMIT_OUT 'commit output on unwritable repository' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	error: insufficient permission for adding an object to repository database .git/objects
+	error: Error building trees
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect out.commit
 '
 
 test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY 'update-index should notice unwritable repository' '
 	test_when_finished "chmod 775 .git/objects .git/objects/??" &&
 	echo 6O >file &&
 	chmod a-w .git/objects .git/objects/?? &&
-	test_must_fail git update-index file
+	test_must_fail git update-index file 2>out.update-index
+'
+
+test_lazy_prereq UPDATE_INDEX_OUT 'test -e "$TRASH_DIRECTORY"/out.update-index'
+test_expect_success UPDATE_INDEX_OUT 'update-index output on unwritable repository' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	error: insufficient permission for adding an object to repository database .git/objects
+	error: file: failed to insert into database
+	fatal: Unable to process path file
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect out.update-index
 '
 
 test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY 'add should notice unwritable repository' '
 	test_when_finished "chmod 775 .git/objects .git/objects/??" &&
 	echo b >file &&
 	chmod a-w .git/objects .git/objects/?? &&
-	test_must_fail git add file
+	test_must_fail git add file 2>out.add
+'
+
+test_lazy_prereq ADD_OUT 'test -e "$TRASH_DIRECTORY"/out.add'
+test_expect_success ADD_OUT 'add output on unwritable repository' '
+	cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
+	error: insufficient permission for adding an object to repository database .git/objects
+	error: file: failed to insert into database
+	error: unable to index file '\''file'\''
+	fatal: updating files failed
+	EOF
+	test_cmp expect out.add
 '
 
 test_done