diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 28da33f875838f..8b2634e8a5ec31 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1527,6 +1527,13 @@ static int path_in_sparse_checkout_1(const char *path,
 	enum pattern_match_result match = UNDECIDED;
 	const char *end, *slash;
 
+	/*
+	 * When using a virtual filesystem, there aren't really patterns
+	 * to follow, but be extra careful to skip this check.
+	 */
+	if (core_virtualfilesystem)
+		return 1;
+
 	/*
 	 * We default to accepting a path if the path is empty, there are no
 	 * patterns, or the patterns are of the wrong type.
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index f15394b131722b..268f7b350b387a 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -982,7 +982,9 @@ test_expect_success 'read-tree --merge with directory-file conflicts' '
 test_expect_success 'merge, cherry-pick, and rebase' '
 	init_repos &&
 
-	for OPERATION in "merge -m merge" cherry-pick "rebase --apply" "rebase --merge"
+	# microsoft/git specific: we need to use "quiet" mode
+	# to avoid different stderr for some rebases.
+	for OPERATION in "merge -m merge" cherry-pick "rebase -q --apply" "rebase -q --merge"
 	do
 		test_all_match git checkout -B temp update-deep &&
 		test_all_match git $OPERATION update-folder1 &&