diff --git a/builtin/describe.c b/builtin/describe.c
index 5b4bfaba3f..1e7ba09693 100644
--- a/builtin/describe.c
+++ b/builtin/describe.c
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ static void describe(const char *arg, int last_one)
 
 	if (cmit)
 		describe_commit(&oid, &sb);
-	else if (lookup_blob(&oid))
+	else if (sha1_object_info(oid.hash, NULL) == OBJ_BLOB)
 		describe_blob(oid, &sb);
 	else
 		die(_("%s is neither a commit nor blob"), arg);
diff --git a/t/t6120-describe.sh b/t/t6120-describe.sh
index 3e3fb462a0..50029ff6a8 100755
--- a/t/t6120-describe.sh
+++ b/t/t6120-describe.sh
@@ -374,4 +374,12 @@ test_expect_success ULIMIT_STACK_SIZE 'describe works in a deep repo' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'describe complains about tree object' '
+	test_must_fail git describe HEAD^{tree}
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'describe complains about missing object' '
+	test_must_fail git describe $_z40
+'
+
 test_done