diff --git a/builtin/apply.c b/builtin/apply.c
index b3b59db534ff0763c822ae9da571d5643a8b709a..c24dc546d0cc3f223c40c12aa20dc75eff13d4f9 100644
--- a/builtin/apply.c
+++ b/builtin/apply.c
@@ -3587,15 +3587,12 @@ static int write_out_one_reject(struct patch *patch)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static int write_out_results(struct patch *list, int skipped_patch)
+static int write_out_results(struct patch *list)
 {
 	int phase;
 	int errs = 0;
 	struct patch *l;
 
-	if (!list && !skipped_patch)
-		return error("No changes");
-
 	for (phase = 0; phase < 2; phase++) {
 		l = list;
 		while (l) {
@@ -3721,6 +3718,9 @@ static int apply_patch(int fd, const char *filename, int options)
 		offset += nr;
 	}
 
+	if (!list && !skipped_patch)
+		die("unrecognized input");
+
 	if (whitespace_error && (ws_error_action == die_on_ws_error))
 		apply = 0;
 
@@ -3738,7 +3738,7 @@ static int apply_patch(int fd, const char *filename, int options)
 	    !apply_with_reject)
 		exit(1);
 
-	if (apply && write_out_results(list, skipped_patch))
+	if (apply && write_out_results(list))
 		exit(1);
 
 	if (fake_ancestor)
diff --git a/t/t4131-apply-fake-ancestor.sh b/t/t4131-apply-fake-ancestor.sh
index 94373ca9a0c20a4465a8788eef3dd7596f6e6c2d..b1361ce54693a07486f5837b0fe477f828b80a4e 100755
--- a/t/t4131-apply-fake-ancestor.sh
+++ b/t/t4131-apply-fake-ancestor.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 	test_commit 1 &&
 	test_commit 2 &&
 	mkdir sub &&
-	test_commit 3 sub/3 &&
+	test_commit 3 sub/3.t &&
 	test_commit 4
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t4136-apply-check.sh b/t/t4136-apply-check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a321f7c245da531cb8fea495a5e7ba02b3a6463b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t4136-apply-check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='git apply should exit non-zero with unrecognized input.'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+	test_commit 1
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'apply --check exits non-zero with unrecognized input' '
+	test_must_fail git apply --check - <<-\EOF
+	I am not a patch
+	I look nothing like a patch
+	git apply must fail
+	EOF
+'
+
+test_done