diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 12f66852..cfe3fae5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ requires-python = ">=3.9"
 dynamic = ["version"]
 dependencies = [
     "gitpython>3",
-    "dulwich>=0.23.1",
+    "dulwich>=0.24.0",
     "pygit2>=1.14.0",
     "pygtrie>=2.3.2",
     "fsspec[tqdm]>=2024.2.0",
diff --git a/src/scmrepo/git/backend/dulwich/__init__.py b/src/scmrepo/git/backend/dulwich/__init__.py
index 2c24b6f5..f75d27ae 100644
--- a/src/scmrepo/git/backend/dulwich/__init__.py
+++ b/src/scmrepo/git/backend/dulwich/__init__.py
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ def commit(self, msg: str, no_verify: bool = False):
 
         with reraise((Error, CommitError), SCMError("Git commit failed")):
             try:
-                commit(self.root_dir, message=msg, no_verify=no_verify)
+                commit(self.repo, message=msg, no_verify=no_verify)
             except InvalidUserIdentity as exc:
                 raise SCMError("Git username and email must be configured") from exc
             except TimezoneFormatError as exc:
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ def branch(self, branch: str):
         from dulwich.porcelain import Error, branch_create
 
         try:
-            branch_create(self.root_dir, branch)
+            branch_create(self.repo, branch)
         except Error as exc:
             raise SCMError(f"Failed to create branch '{branch}'") from exc
 
@@ -909,7 +909,7 @@ def status(
 
         with reraise(Error, SCMError("Git status failed")):
             staged, unstaged, untracked = git_status(
-                self.root_dir, ignored=ignored, untracked_files=untracked_files
+                self.repo, ignored=ignored, untracked_files=untracked_files
             )
 
         return (
diff --git a/tests/test_git.py b/tests/test_git.py
index 7141a451..a5bd1eb7 100644
--- a/tests/test_git.py
+++ b/tests/test_git.py
@@ -921,7 +921,7 @@ def test_ignored(tmp_dir: TmpDir, scm: Git, git: Git, git_backend: str):
     assert not git.is_ignored(tmp_dir / "dir1" / "file2.txt")
 
 
-@pytest.mark.skip_git_backend("pygit2", "gitpython", "dulwich")
+@pytest.mark.skip_git_backend("pygit2", "gitpython")
 def test_ignored_dir_unignored_subdirs(tmp_dir: TmpDir, scm: Git, git: Git):
     tmp_dir.gen({".gitignore": "data/**\n!data/**/\n!data/**/*.csv"})
     scm.add([".gitignore"])