diff --git a/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc b/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc
index aba20eb770..3b7a85b383 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-cat-file.adoc
@@ -451,8 +451,9 @@ CAVEATS
 -------
 
 Note that since %(objecttype), %(objectsize:disk) and %(deltabase) are
-currently not supported by the `remote-object-info` command, we will raise
-an error and exit when they appear in the format string.
+currently not supported by the `remote-object-info` command, they will
+return an empty string for remote queries, matching how `for-each-ref`
+behaves for known but inapplicable placeholders.
 
 Note that the sizes of objects on disk are reported accurately, but care
 should be taken in drawing conclusions about which refs or objects are
diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index a14cfea815..1166a046b4 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -336,8 +336,18 @@ struct expand_data {
 	 * optimized out.
 	 */
 	unsigned skip_object_info : 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * Flags about when an object info is being fetched from remote.
+	 */
+	unsigned is_remote:1;
+};
+#define EXPAND_DATA_INIT  { .mode = S_IFINVALID, .type = OBJ_BAD }
+
+static const char *remote_object_info_atoms[] = {
+	"objectname",
+	"objectsize",
 };
-#define EXPAND_DATA_INIT  { .mode = S_IFINVALID }
 
 static int is_atom(const char *atom, const char *s, int slen)
 {
@@ -348,14 +358,31 @@ static int is_atom(const char *atom, const char *s, int slen)
 static int expand_atom(struct strbuf *sb, const char *atom, int len,
 		       struct expand_data *data)
 {
+	if (data->is_remote) {
+		size_t i, allowed_nr = ARRAY_SIZE(remote_object_info_atoms);
+		for (i = 0; i < allowed_nr; i++)
+			if (is_atom(remote_object_info_atoms[i], atom, len))
+				break;
+
+		/*
+		 * On remote, skip unsupported atoms returning an empty sb,
+		 * honoring how for-each-ref handles known but inapplicable
+		 * atoms (e.g. %(tagger)).
+		 */
+		if (i == allowed_nr)
+			return 1;
+	}
+
 	if (is_atom("objectname", atom, len)) {
 		if (!data->mark_query)
 			strbuf_addstr(sb, oid_to_hex(&data->oid));
 	} else if (is_atom("objecttype", atom, len)) {
-		if (data->mark_query)
+		if (data->mark_query) {
 			data->info.typep = &data->type;
-		else
-			strbuf_addstr(sb, type_name(data->type));
+		} else {
+			const char *t = type_name(data->type);
+			strbuf_addstr(sb, t ? t : "");
+		}
 	} else if (is_atom("objectsize", atom, len)) {
 		if (data->mark_query)
 			data->info.sizep = &data->size;
@@ -699,10 +726,6 @@ static int get_remote_info(struct batch_options *opt,
 	gtransport->smart_options->object_info = 1;
 	gtransport->smart_options->object_info_oids = object_info_oids;
 
-	/* 'objectsize' is the only option currently supported */
-	if (!strstr(opt->format, "%(objectsize)"))
-		die(_("%s is currently not supported with remote-object-info"), opt->format);
-
 	string_list_append(&object_info_options, "size");
 
 	if (object_info_options.nr > 0) {
@@ -832,7 +855,9 @@ static void parse_cmd_remote_object_info(struct batch_options *opt,
 			 */
 			data->size = *remote_object_info[i].sizep;
 			opt->batch_mode = BATCH_MODE_INFO;
+			data->is_remote = 1;
 			batch_object_write(argv[i + 1], output, opt, data, NULL, 0);
+			data->is_remote = 0;
 		}
 	}
 	data->skip_object_info = 0;
diff --git a/t/t1017-cat-file-remote-object-info.sh b/t/t1017-cat-file-remote-object-info.sh
index 5c8c07b0cf..0a78aabf3b 100755
--- a/t/t1017-cat-file-remote-object-info.sh
+++ b/t/t1017-cat-file-remote-object-info.sh
@@ -205,6 +205,22 @@ info $tag_oid
 	)
 '
 
+# This tests depends on %(objecttype) not being supported yet, once supported
+# it needs to be updated.
+test_expect_success 'unsupported placeholder on remote returns empty string' '
+	(
+		set_transport_variables "$daemon_parent" &&
+		cd "$daemon_parent/daemon_client_empty" &&
+
+		echo "" >expect &&
+
+		git cat-file --batch-command="%(objecttype)" >actual <<-EOF &&
+		remote-object-info "$GIT_DAEMON_URL/parent" $hello_oid
+		EOF
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 # Test --batch-command remote-object-info with 'git://' and
 # transfer.advertiseobjectinfo set to false, i.e. server does not have object-info capability
 test_expect_success 'batch-command remote-object-info git:// fails when transfer.advertiseobjectinfo=false' '
@@ -544,10 +560,12 @@ test_expect_success 'remote-object-info fails on unspported filter option (objec
 		set_transport_variables "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/http_parent" &&
 		cd "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/http_parent" &&
 
-		test_must_fail git cat-file --batch-command="%(objectsize:disk)" 2>err <<-EOF &&
+		echo "$hello_oid " >expect &&
+
+		git cat-file --batch-command="%(objectname) %(objectsize:disk)" >actual <<-EOF &&
 		remote-object-info "$HTTPD_URL/smart/http_parent" $hello_oid
 		EOF
-		test_grep "%(objectsize:disk) is currently not supported with remote-object-info" err
+		test_cmp expect actual
 	)
 '
 
@@ -556,10 +574,12 @@ test_expect_success 'remote-object-info fails on unspported filter option (delta
 		set_transport_variables "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/http_parent" &&
 		cd "$HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH/http_parent" &&
 
-		test_must_fail git cat-file --batch-command="%(deltabase)" 2>err <<-EOF &&
+		echo "" >expect &&
+
+		git cat-file --batch-command="%(deltabase)" >actual <<-EOF &&
 		remote-object-info "$HTTPD_URL/smart/http_parent" $hello_oid
 		EOF
-		test_grep "%(deltabase) is currently not supported with remote-object-info" err
+		test_cmp expect actual
 	)
 '