diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.ssh.apache/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/sshd/SshdSessionFactory.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.ssh.apache/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/sshd/SshdSessionFactory.java
index cb2549e90..2c3cbe55c 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.ssh.apache/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/sshd/SshdSessionFactory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.ssh.apache/src/org/eclipse/jgit/transport/sshd/SshdSessionFactory.java
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ public SshdSession getSession(URIish uri,
 							JGitSshClient.PREFERRED_AUTHENTICATIONS,
 							defaultAuths);
 				}
-				if (home != null && home.getAbsoluteFile() != null) {
+				if (home != null) {
 					try {
 						jgitClient.setAttribute(JGitSshClient.HOME_DIRECTORY,
 								home.getAbsoluteFile().toPath());