lib/PublicInbox/Import.pm | 4 ++--

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Import.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Import.pm
index e1f48771bd629c6dfe37b15b19138681b5bd1b2a..cb25215d15c39665a9b61895ebed8f98618eba77 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Import.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Import.pm
@@ -179,9 +179,9 @@ 		my $env = { GIT_INDEX_FILE => $index };
 		run_die([@cmd, qw(read-tree -m -v -i), $self->{ref}], $env);
 	}
 	run_die([@cmd, 'update-server-info'], undef);
-	($self->{path_type} eq '2/38') and eval {
+	my $ibx = $self->{-inbox};
+	($ibx && $self->{path_type} eq '2/38') and eval {
 		require PublicInbox::SearchIdx;
-		my $ibx = $self->{-inbox} || $git_dir;
 		my $s = PublicInbox::SearchIdx->new($ibx);
 		$s->index_sync({ ref => $self->{ref} });
 	};