diff --git a/parse-options-cb.c b/parse-options-cb.c
index 5ab6ed6b08..4e8290181f 100644
--- a/parse-options-cb.c
+++ b/parse-options-cb.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ int parse_opt_string_list(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 	if (!arg)
 		return -1;
 
-	string_list_append(v, xstrdup(arg));
+	string_list_append(v, arg);
 	return 0;
 }