diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index 4803c8be1d..75d0bdede8 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ const void *detach_commit_buffer(struct commit *commit, unsigned long *sizep)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-int parse_commit_buffer(struct commit *item, const void *buffer, unsigned long size, int check_graph)
+int parse_commit_buffer_the_repository(struct commit *item, const void *buffer, unsigned long size, int check_graph)
 {
 	const char *tail = buffer;
 	const char *bufptr = buffer;
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ int parse_commit_gently(struct commit *item, int quiet_on_missing)
 		return error("Object %s not a commit",
 			     oid_to_hex(&item->object.oid));
 	}
-	ret = parse_commit_buffer(item, buffer, size, 0);
+	ret = parse_commit_buffer(the_repository, item, buffer, size, 0);
 	if (save_commit_buffer && !ret) {
 		set_commit_buffer(item, buffer, size);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/commit.h b/commit.h
index cd80dab59c..f326c13622 100644
--- a/commit.h
+++ b/commit.h
@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ struct commit *lookup_commit_reference_by_name(const char *name);
  */
 struct commit *lookup_commit_or_die(const struct object_id *oid, const char *ref_name);
 
-int parse_commit_buffer(struct commit *item, const void *buffer, unsigned long size, int check_graph);
+#define parse_commit_buffer(r, i, b, s, g) parse_commit_buffer_##r(i, b, s, g)
+int parse_commit_buffer_the_repository(struct commit *item, const void *buffer, unsigned long size, int check_graph);
 int parse_commit_gently(struct commit *item, int quiet_on_missing);
 static inline int parse_commit(struct commit *item)
 {
diff --git a/object.c b/object.c
index 530c55e41e..5494c0cbaa 100644
--- a/object.c
+++ b/object.c
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ struct object *parse_object_buffer_the_repository(const struct object_id *oid, e
 	} else if (type == OBJ_COMMIT) {
 		struct commit *commit = lookup_commit(the_repository, oid);
 		if (commit) {
-			if (parse_commit_buffer(commit, buffer, size, 1))
+			if (parse_commit_buffer(the_repository, commit, buffer, size, 1))
 				return NULL;
 			if (!get_cached_commit_buffer(commit, NULL)) {
 				set_commit_buffer(commit, buffer, size);
diff --git a/sha1-file.c b/sha1-file.c
index de4839e634..75ba30b4ab 100644
--- a/sha1-file.c
+++ b/sha1-file.c
@@ -1801,7 +1801,7 @@ static void check_commit(const void *buf, size_t size)
 {
 	struct commit c;
 	memset(&c, 0, sizeof(c));
-	if (parse_commit_buffer(&c, buf, size, 0))
+	if (parse_commit_buffer(the_repository, &c, buf, size, 0))
 		die("corrupt commit");
 }