diff --git a/object-name.c b/object-name.c
index 83efba0ba6..026ff8c6dd 100644
--- a/object-name.c
+++ b/object-name.c
@@ -1803,13 +1803,15 @@ static enum get_oid_result get_oid_with_context_1(struct repository *repo,
 			    memcmp(ce->name, cp, namelen))
 				break;
 			if (ce_stage(ce) == stage) {
+				int ret = reject_tree_in_index(repo, only_to_die, ce,
+							       stage, prefix, cp);
+
+				if (!ret) {
+					oidcpy(oid, &ce->oid);
+					oc->mode = ce->ce_mode;
+				}
 				free(new_path);
-				if (reject_tree_in_index(repo, only_to_die, ce,
-							 stage, prefix, cp))
-					return -1;
-				oidcpy(oid, &ce->oid);
-				oc->mode = ce->ce_mode;
-				return 0;
+				return ret;
 			}
 			pos++;
 		}
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index 446c1776cb..05b54062b3 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -1405,6 +1405,17 @@ do
 	"
 done
 
+test_expect_success 'relative path to a sparse directory' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	# A ":<stage>:<path>" argument whose path is relative is resolved
+	# into a heap-allocated buffer, and a sparse directory found at that
+	# path is reported through it.  Cover that combination, so that the
+	# reporting does not read the buffer after it has been released.
+	test_sparse_match test_must_fail git show :0:./folder1/ &&
+	test_sparse_match test_must_fail git rev-parse :0:./folder1/
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'submodule handling' '
 	init_repos &&