diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 1d4df952e5..88a33e6e72 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -3587,8 +3587,11 @@ int merge_recursive(struct merge_options *opt,
 		repo_read_index(opt->repo);
 
 	opt->ancestor = ancestor_name;
-	clean = merge_trees(opt, get_commit_tree(h1), get_commit_tree(h2),
-			    get_commit_tree(merged_common_ancestors),
+	clean = merge_trees(opt,
+			    repo_get_commit_tree(opt->repo, h1),
+			    repo_get_commit_tree(opt->repo, h2),
+			    repo_get_commit_tree(opt->repo,
+						 merged_common_ancestors),
 			    &mrtree);
 	strbuf_release(&merge_base_abbrev);
 	if (clean < 0) {