diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c3e31f3b..effeb5e3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 - error when diffing huge files ([#96](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/96))
+- expressive error when run in bare repos ([#100](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/100))
 
 ## [0.4.0] - 2020-05-25
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7e9a9756..e4fe1abc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ presentation slides: https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui-presentation
 
 # known limitations
 
+* no support for [bare repositories](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Getting-Git-on-a-Server)
 * [core.hooksPath](https://git-scm.com/docs/githooks) config not supported
 * revert/reset hunk in working dir (see [#11](https://github.com/extrawurst/gitui/issues/11))
 
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/lib.rs b/asyncgit/src/lib.rs
index 27086d69..689fa33f 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/lib.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/lib.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ pub use crate::{
     sync::{
         diff::{DiffLine, DiffLineType, FileDiff},
         status::{StatusItem, StatusItemType},
-        utils::is_repo,
     },
 };
 use std::{
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs b/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs
index e7c90942..456be51c 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/sync/mod.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ pub use reset::{
 pub use stash::{get_stashes, stash_apply, stash_drop, stash_save};
 pub use tags::{get_tags, Tags};
 pub use utils::{
-    commit, stage_add_all, stage_add_file, stage_addremoved,
+    commit, is_bare_repo, is_repo, stage_add_all, stage_add_file,
+    stage_addremoved,
 };
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs b/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
index 3d9ef85e..5509fb6c 100644
--- a/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
+++ b/asyncgit/src/sync/utils.rs
@@ -15,6 +15,17 @@ pub fn is_repo(repo_path: &str) -> bool {
     .is_ok()
 }
 
+/// checks if the git repo at path `repo_path` is a bare repo
+pub fn is_bare_repo(repo_path: &str) -> Result<bool> {
+    let repo = Repository::open_ext(
+        repo_path,
+        RepositoryOpenFlags::empty(),
+        Vec::<&Path>::new(),
+    )?;
+
+    Ok(repo.is_bare())
+}
+
 ///
 pub fn repo(repo_path: &str) -> Result<Repository> {
     let repo = Repository::open_ext(
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 6475178b..4a0a19ac 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ static SPINNER_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(50);
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
     process_cmdline()?;
 
-    if invalid_path() {
-        eprintln!("invalid git path\nplease run gitui inside of a git repository");
+    if !valid_path()? {
+        eprintln!("invalid git path\nplease run gitui inside of a valid git (non-bare) repository");
         return Ok(());
     }
 
@@ -149,8 +149,9 @@ fn draw<B: Backend>(
     })
 }
 
-fn invalid_path() -> bool {
-    !asyncgit::is_repo(asyncgit::CWD)
+fn valid_path() -> Result<bool> {
+    Ok(asyncgit::sync::is_repo(asyncgit::CWD)
+        && !asyncgit::sync::is_bare_repo(asyncgit::CWD)?)
 }
 
 fn select_event(