  We report the analysis of time-series of infrared $JHK_s$ photometry of the
dwarf nova V2051 Oph in quiescence. We modelled the ellipsoidal variations
caused by the distorted mass-donor star to infer its $JHK_s$ fluxes. From its
infrared colors we estimate a spectral type of $M(8.0\pm 1.5)$ and an
equivalent blackbody temperature of $T_\mathrm{BB}=(2700\pm270)\,K$. We used
the Barnes & Evans relation to infer a photometric parallax distance of
$d_\mathrm{BE}=(102\pm16)$ pc to the binary. At this short distance, the
corresponding accretion disc temperatures in outburst are too low to be
explained by the disc-instability model for dwarf nova outbursts, underscoring
a previous suggestion that the outbursts of this binary are powered by
mass-transfer bursts.
