diff --git a/protocol.c b/protocol.c
index 9741f05750..d390391eba 100644
--- a/protocol.c
+++ b/protocol.c
@@ -17,9 +17,8 @@ static enum protocol_version parse_protocol_version(const char *value)
 enum protocol_version get_protocol_version_config(void)
 {
 	const char *value;
-	enum protocol_version retval = protocol_v0;
 	const char *git_test_k = "GIT_TEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION";
-	const char *git_test_v = getenv(git_test_k);
+	const char *git_test_v;
 
 	if (!git_config_get_string_const("protocol.version", &value)) {
 		enum protocol_version version = parse_protocol_version(value);
@@ -28,19 +27,19 @@ enum protocol_version get_protocol_version_config(void)
 			die("unknown value for config 'protocol.version': %s",
 			    value);
 
-		retval = version;
+		return version;
 	}
 
+	git_test_v = getenv(git_test_k);
 	if (git_test_v && *git_test_v) {
 		enum protocol_version env = parse_protocol_version(git_test_v);
 
 		if (env == protocol_unknown_version)
 			die("unknown value for %s: %s", git_test_k, git_test_v);
-		if (retval < env)
-			retval = env;
+		return env;
 	}
 
-	return retval;
+	return protocol_v0;
 }
 
 enum protocol_version determine_protocol_version_server(void)
diff --git a/t/README b/t/README
index caa125ba9a..9afd61e3ca 100644
--- a/t/README
+++ b/t/README
@@ -352,8 +352,8 @@ details.
 GIT_TEST_SPLIT_INDEX=<boolean> forces split-index mode on the whole
 test suite. Accept any boolean values that are accepted by git-config.
 
-GIT_TEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION=<n>, when set, overrides the
-'protocol.version' setting to n if it is less than n.
+GIT_TEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION=<n>, when set, makes 'protocol.version'
+default to n.
 
 GIT_TEST_FULL_IN_PACK_ARRAY=<boolean> exercises the uncommon
 pack-objects code path where there are more than 1024 packs even if