git-push: "error: pack-objects died with strange error"

So I've got this repo managed by git-svn. I have a topic branch that's
not going into svn, but I wanted a backup.

In a directory managed by git-daemon:

        server          = /usr/bin/git-daemon
        server_args     = --inetd --export-all --base-path=/export/git

I created an empty repo:

  mkdir bcotton.git
  cd bcotton.git
  git --bare init --shared 
  git config daemon.receivepack true

Then from my repo, I tried to push my work into it:

  git remote add backup git://git/bcotton.git
  git remote update backup
  
  git push backup <topic>

  Counting objects: 108733, done.
  Compressing objects: 100% (39375/39375), done.
  error: pack-objects died with strange error
  error: failed to push some refs to 'git://git.f4tech.com/bcotton.git'

git fsck --full is clean.

There is nothing from git-daemon in syslog

Ideas?

 -Bob