diff --git a/sha1-file.c b/sha1-file.c
index dd0b6aa873..b8ce21cbaf 100644
--- a/sha1-file.c
+++ b/sha1-file.c
@@ -1361,7 +1361,9 @@ int oid_object_info(struct repository *r,
 	return type;
 }
 
-static void *read_object(const unsigned char *sha1, enum object_type *type,
+static void *read_object(struct repository *r,
+			 const unsigned char *sha1,
+			 enum object_type *type,
 			 unsigned long *size)
 {
 	struct object_id oid;
@@ -1373,7 +1375,7 @@ static void *read_object(const unsigned char *sha1, enum object_type *type,
 
 	hashcpy(oid.hash, sha1);
 
-	if (oid_object_info_extended(the_repository, &oid, &oi, 0) < 0)
+	if (oid_object_info_extended(r, &oid, &oi, 0) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 	return content;
 }
@@ -1414,7 +1416,7 @@ void *read_object_file_extended(const struct object_id *oid,
 		lookup_replace_object(the_repository, oid) : oid;
 
 	errno = 0;
-	data = read_object(repl->hash, type, size);
+	data = read_object(the_repository, repl->hash, type, size);
 	if (data)
 		return data;
 
@@ -1755,7 +1757,7 @@ int force_object_loose(const struct object_id *oid, time_t mtime)
 
 	if (has_loose_object(oid))
 		return 0;
-	buf = read_object(oid->hash, &type, &len);
+	buf = read_object(the_repository, oid->hash, &type, &len);
 	if (!buf)
 		return error(_("cannot read sha1_file for %s"), oid_to_hex(oid));
 	hdrlen = xsnprintf(hdr, sizeof(hdr), "%s %lu", type_name(type), len) + 1;