diff --git a/builtin/checkout-index.c b/builtin/checkout-index.c
index 4bbfc92dce..023e49e271 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout-index.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout-index.c
@@ -23,22 +23,35 @@ static struct checkout state = CHECKOUT_INIT;
 static void write_tempfile_record(const char *name, const char *prefix)
 {
 	int i;
+	int have_tempname = 0;
 
 	if (CHECKOUT_ALL == checkout_stage) {
-		for (i = 1; i < 4; i++) {
-			if (i > 1)
-				putchar(' ');
-			if (topath[i][0])
-				fputs(topath[i], stdout);
-			else
-				putchar('.');
-		}
-	} else
-		fputs(topath[checkout_stage], stdout);
+		for (i = 1; i < 4; i++)
+			if (topath[i][0]) {
+				have_tempname = 1;
+				break;
+			}
 
-	putchar('\t');
-	write_name_quoted_relative(name, prefix, stdout,
-				   nul_term_line ? '\0' : '\n');
+		if (have_tempname) {
+			for (i = 1; i < 4; i++) {
+				if (i > 1)
+					putchar(' ');
+				if (topath[i][0])
+					fputs(topath[i], stdout);
+				else
+					putchar('.');
+			}
+		}
+	} else if (topath[checkout_stage][0]) {
+		have_tempname = 1;
+		fputs(topath[checkout_stage], stdout);
+	}
+
+	if (have_tempname) {
+		putchar('\t');
+		write_name_quoted_relative(name, prefix, stdout,
+					   nul_term_line ? '\0' : '\n');
+	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
 		topath[i][0] = 0;
diff --git a/entry.c b/entry.c
index a0532f1f00..7b9f43716f 100644
--- a/entry.c
+++ b/entry.c
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ static int write_entry(struct cache_entry *ce,
 		new_blob = read_blob_entry(ce, &size);
 		if (!new_blob)
 			return error("unable to read sha1 file of %s (%s)",
-				     path, oid_to_hex(&ce->oid));
+				     ce->name, oid_to_hex(&ce->oid));
 
 		/*
 		 * We can't make a real symlink; write out a regular file entry
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ static int write_entry(struct cache_entry *ce,
 			new_blob = read_blob_entry(ce, &size);
 			if (!new_blob)
 				return error("unable to read sha1 file of %s (%s)",
-					     path, oid_to_hex(&ce->oid));
+					     ce->name, oid_to_hex(&ce->oid));
 		}
 
 		/*
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ static int write_entry(struct cache_entry *ce,
 
 	case S_IFGITLINK:
 		if (to_tempfile)
-			return error("cannot create temporary submodule %s", path);
+			return error("cannot create temporary submodule %s", ce->name);
 		if (mkdir(path, 0777) < 0)
 			return error("cannot create submodule directory %s", path);
 		sub = submodule_from_ce(ce);
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ static int write_entry(struct cache_entry *ce,
 		break;
 
 	default:
-		return error("unknown file mode for %s in index", path);
+		return error("unknown file mode for %s in index", ce->name);
 	}
 
 finish:
diff --git a/t/t2006-checkout-index-basic.sh b/t/t2006-checkout-index-basic.sh
index 8e181dbf01..7ff3edab05 100755
--- a/t/t2006-checkout-index-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t2006-checkout-index-basic.sh
@@ -32,4 +32,27 @@ test_expect_success 'checkout-index reports errors (stdin)' '
 	test_i18ngrep not.in.the.cache stderr
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'checkout-index --temp correctly reports error on missing blobs' '
+	test_when_finished git reset --hard &&
+	missing_blob=$(echo "no such blob here" | git hash-object --stdin) &&
+	cat >objs <<-EOF &&
+	100644 $missing_blob	file
+	120000 $missing_blob	symlink
+	EOF
+	git update-index --index-info <objs &&
+
+	test_must_fail git checkout-index --temp symlink file 2>stderr &&
+	test_i18ngrep "unable to read sha1 file of file ($missing_blob)" stderr &&
+	test_i18ngrep "unable to read sha1 file of symlink ($missing_blob)" stderr
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout-index --temp correctly reports error for submodules' '
+	git init sub &&
+	test_commit -C sub file &&
+	git submodule add ./sub &&
+	git commit -m sub &&
+	test_must_fail git checkout-index --temp sub 2>stderr &&
+	test_i18ngrep "cannot create temporary submodule sub" stderr
+'
+
 test_done