diff --git a/sha1_file.c b/sha1_file.c
index 94daf31ec6..057262d46e 100644
--- a/sha1_file.c
+++ b/sha1_file.c
@@ -263,7 +263,12 @@ static int link_alt_odb_entry(const char *entry, const char *relative_base,
 	}
 	strbuf_addstr(&pathbuf, entry);
 
-	normalize_path_copy(pathbuf.buf, pathbuf.buf);
+	if (strbuf_normalize_path(&pathbuf) < 0) {
+		error("unable to normalize alternate object path: %s",
+		      pathbuf.buf);
+		strbuf_release(&pathbuf);
+		return -1;
+	}
 
 	pfxlen = strlen(pathbuf.buf);
 
@@ -335,7 +340,9 @@ static void link_alt_odb_entries(const char *alt, int len, int sep,
 	}
 
 	strbuf_add_absolute_path(&objdirbuf, get_object_directory());
-	normalize_path_copy(objdirbuf.buf, objdirbuf.buf);
+	if (strbuf_normalize_path(&objdirbuf) < 0)
+		die("unable to normalize object directory: %s",
+		    objdirbuf.buf);
 
 	alt_copy = xmemdupz(alt, len);
 	string_list_split_in_place(&entries, alt_copy, sep, -1);
diff --git a/strbuf.c b/strbuf.c
index b839be491b..8fec6579f7 100644
--- a/strbuf.c
+++ b/strbuf.c
@@ -870,3 +870,23 @@ void strbuf_stripspace(struct strbuf *sb, int skip_comments)
 
 	strbuf_setlen(sb, j);
 }
+
+int strbuf_normalize_path(struct strbuf *src)
+{
+	struct strbuf dst = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	strbuf_grow(&dst, src->len);
+	if (normalize_path_copy(dst.buf, src->buf) < 0) {
+		strbuf_release(&dst);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * normalize_path does not tell us the new length, so we have to
+	 * compute it by looking for the new NUL it placed
+	 */
+	strbuf_setlen(&dst, strlen(dst.buf));
+	strbuf_swap(src, &dst);
+	strbuf_release(&dst);
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/strbuf.h b/strbuf.h
index ba8d5f1d46..2262b12683 100644
--- a/strbuf.h
+++ b/strbuf.h
@@ -443,6 +443,14 @@ extern int strbuf_getcwd(struct strbuf *sb);
  */
 extern void strbuf_add_absolute_path(struct strbuf *sb, const char *path);
 
+
+/**
+ * Normalize in-place the path contained in the strbuf. See
+ * normalize_path_copy() for details. If an error occurs, the contents of "sb"
+ * are left untouched, and -1 is returned.
+ */
+extern int strbuf_normalize_path(struct strbuf *sb);
+
 /**
  * Strip whitespace from a buffer. The second parameter controls if
  * comments are considered contents to be removed or not.