Git 1.8.4.2: 'git-rev-parse --is-inside-git-dir' wrong output!

"git-rev-parse --is-inside-git-dir" outputs "fatal: Not a git
repository (or any of the parent directories): .git", instead of
"false" when outside of a git directory.  "--is-inside-work-tree"
behaves the same way. Both commands work correctly (i.e. output
"true") when inside a git directory, or inside a work tree,
respectively.

To test, I installed git 1.8.4.2 initially from
https://launchpad.net/~git-core/+archive/ppa for Ubuntu 12.04.3, and
then also compiled it from source, but both seem to behave the same
way. The problem is not yet present in version 1.7.9.5.

Thanks,

Ville Walveranta