diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index 144ae18127de2cdbc8d4ce3f11d471b6c8e21621..8f114add3874045ef35702d8965ce661309c508c 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -504,6 +504,7 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	git_config(git_cat_file_config, NULL);
 
+	batch.buffer_output = -1;
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, cat_file_usage, 0);
 
 	if (opt) {
@@ -527,6 +528,9 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
 	}
 
+	if (batch.buffer_output < 0)
+		batch.buffer_output = batch.all_objects;
+
 	if (batch.enabled)
 		return batch_objects(&batch);