diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index de37e5153c..56385d4c01 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -213,6 +213,8 @@ static int add_cacheinfo(unsigned int mode, const unsigned char *sha1,
 		struct cache_entry *nce;
 
 		nce = refresh_cache_entry(ce, CE_MATCH_REFRESH | CE_MATCH_IGNORE_MISSING);
+		if (!nce)
+			return error(_("addinfo_cache failed for path '%s'"), path);
 		if (nce != ce)
 			ret = add_cache_entry(nce, options);
 	}
diff --git a/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh b/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh
index 5bef564ff1..22970d2223 100755
--- a/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh
+++ b/t/t3501-revert-cherry-pick.sh
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ test_expect_success 'cherry-pick "-" works with arguments' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'cherry-pick works with dirty renamed file' '
+test_expect_success 'cherry-pick works with dirty renamed file' '
 	test_commit to-rename &&
 	git checkout -b unrelated &&
 	test_commit unrelated &&