diff --git a/preload-index.c b/preload-index.c
index d61d7662d5..71cd2437a3 100644
--- a/preload-index.c
+++ b/preload-index.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ static void *preload_thread(void *_data)
 			continue;
 		if (ce->ce_flags & CE_FSMONITOR_VALID)
 			continue;
-		if (!ce_path_match(&the_index, ce, &p->pathspec, NULL))
+		if (!ce_path_match(index, ce, &p->pathspec, NULL))
 			continue;
 		if (threaded_has_symlink_leading_path(&cache, ce->name, ce_namelen(ce)))
 			continue;