diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index ef56471a8c..ebd00f57e5 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -2126,7 +2126,7 @@ static int is_tip_reachable(const char *path, const struct object_id *oid)
 	char *hex = oid_to_hex(oid);
 
 	cp.git_cmd = 1;
-	cp.dir = xstrdup(path);
+	cp.dir = path;
 	cp.no_stderr = 1;
 	strvec_pushl(&cp.args, "rev-list", "-n", "1", hex, "--not", "--all", NULL);
 
@@ -2145,7 +2145,7 @@ static int fetch_in_submodule(const char *module_path, int depth, int quiet,
 
 	prepare_submodule_repo_env(&cp.env);
 	cp.git_cmd = 1;
-	cp.dir = xstrdup(module_path);
+	cp.dir = module_path;
 
 	strvec_push(&cp.args, "fetch");
 	if (quiet)
@@ -2198,7 +2198,7 @@ static int run_update_command(const struct update_data *ud, int subforce)
 	}
 	strvec_push(&cp.args, oid);
 
-	cp.dir = xstrdup(ud->sm_path);
+	cp.dir = ud->sm_path;
 	prepare_submodule_repo_env(&cp.env);
 	if ((ret = run_command(&cp))) {
 		switch (ud->update_strategy.type) {