diff --git a/gpg-interface.c b/gpg-interface.c
index 71a9382a61..5c824aeb25 100644
--- a/gpg-interface.c
+++ b/gpg-interface.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ static enum signature_trust_level configured_min_trust_level = TRUST_UNDEFINED;
 
 struct gpg_format {
 	const char *name;
-	char *program;
+	const char *program;
 	const char **verify_args;
 	const char **sigs;
 	int (*verify_signed_buffer)(struct signature_check *sigc,
@@ -783,7 +783,7 @@ static int git_gpg_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 
 	if (fmtname) {
 		fmt = get_format_by_name(fmtname);
-		return git_config_string(&fmt->program, var, value);
+		return git_config_string((char **) &fmt->program, var, value);
 	}
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/merge-ll.c b/merge-ll.c
index e29b15fa4a..180c19df67 100644
--- a/merge-ll.c
+++ b/merge-ll.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ typedef enum ll_merge_result (*ll_merge_fn)(const struct ll_merge_driver *,
 
 struct ll_merge_driver {
 	const char *name;
-	char *description;
+	const char *description;
 	ll_merge_fn fn;
 	char *recursive;
 	struct ll_merge_driver *next;
@@ -304,8 +304,13 @@ static int read_merge_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		ll_user_merge_tail = &(fn->next);
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp("name", key))
-		return git_config_string(&fn->description, var, value);
+	if (!strcmp("name", key)) {
+		/*
+		 * The description is leaking, but that's okay as we want to
+		 * keep around the merge drivers anyway.
+		 */
+		return git_config_string((char **) &fn->description, var, value);
+	}
 
 	if (!strcmp("driver", key)) {
 		if (!value)
diff --git a/userdiff.c b/userdiff.c
index 82bc76b910..371032a413 100644
--- a/userdiff.c
+++ b/userdiff.c
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ static struct userdiff_driver *userdiff_find_by_namelen(const char *name, size_t
 static int parse_funcname(struct userdiff_funcname *f, const char *k,
 		const char *v, int cflags)
 {
-	if (git_config_string(&f->pattern, k, v) < 0)
+	if (git_config_string((char **) &f->pattern, k, v) < 0)
 		return -1;
 	f->cflags = cflags;
 	return 0;
@@ -445,15 +445,15 @@ int userdiff_config(const char *k, const char *v)
 	if (!strcmp(type, "binary"))
 		return parse_tristate(&drv->binary, k, v);
 	if (!strcmp(type, "command"))
-		return git_config_string(&drv->external, k, v);
+		return git_config_string((char **) &drv->external, k, v);
 	if (!strcmp(type, "textconv"))
-		return git_config_string(&drv->textconv, k, v);
+		return git_config_string((char **) &drv->textconv, k, v);
 	if (!strcmp(type, "cachetextconv"))
 		return parse_bool(&drv->textconv_want_cache, k, v);
 	if (!strcmp(type, "wordregex"))
-		return git_config_string(&drv->word_regex, k, v);
+		return git_config_string((char **) &drv->word_regex, k, v);
 	if (!strcmp(type, "algorithm"))
-		return git_config_string(&drv->algorithm, k, v);
+		return git_config_string((char **) &drv->algorithm, k, v);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/userdiff.h b/userdiff.h
index cc8e5abfef..d726804c3e 100644
--- a/userdiff.h
+++ b/userdiff.h
@@ -7,19 +7,19 @@ struct index_state;
 struct repository;
 
 struct userdiff_funcname {
-	char *pattern;
+	const char *pattern;
 	int cflags;
 };
 
 struct userdiff_driver {
 	const char *name;
-	char *external;
-	char *algorithm;
+	const char *external;
+	const char *algorithm;
 	int binary;
 	struct userdiff_funcname funcname;
-	char *word_regex;
-	char *word_regex_multi_byte;
-	char *textconv;
+	const char *word_regex;
+	const char *word_regex_multi_byte;
+	const char *textconv;
 	struct notes_cache *textconv_cache;
 	int textconv_want_cache;
 };