diff --git a/builtin/receive-pack.c b/builtin/receive-pack.c
index 92e1213ecc..011db00d31 100644
--- a/builtin/receive-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/receive-pack.c
@@ -1478,11 +1478,9 @@ static struct command **queue_command(struct command **tail,
 
 	refname = line + 82;
 	reflen = linelen - 82;
-	cmd = xcalloc(1, st_add3(sizeof(struct command), reflen, 1));
+	FLEX_ALLOC_MEM(cmd, ref_name, refname, reflen);
 	hashcpy(cmd->old_sha1, old_sha1);
 	hashcpy(cmd->new_sha1, new_sha1);
-	memcpy(cmd->ref_name, refname, reflen);
-	cmd->ref_name[reflen] = '\0';
 	*tail = cmd;
 	return &cmd->next;
 }
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 590bfddf73..f52e00b580 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ extern FILE *fopen_for_writing(const char *path);
  * you can do:
  *
  *   struct foo *f;
- *   FLEX_ALLOC_STR(f, name, src);
+ *   FLEXPTR_ALLOC_STR(f, name, src);
  *
  * and "name" will point to a block of memory after the struct, which will be
  * freed along with the struct (but the pointer can be repointed anywhere).