diff --git a/notes-merge.c b/notes-merge.c
index 3bbcc9debd..e9e4199311 100644
--- a/notes-merge.c
+++ b/notes-merge.c
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ int notes_merge_commit(struct notes_merge_options *o,
 	 * Finally store the new commit object SHA1 into 'result_sha1'.
 	 */
 	struct dir_struct dir;
-	const char *path = git_path(NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE "/");
+	char *path = xstrdup(git_path(NOTES_MERGE_WORKTREE "/"));
 	int path_len = strlen(path), i;
 	const char *msg = strstr(partial_commit->buffer, "\n\n");
 
@@ -721,6 +721,7 @@ int notes_merge_commit(struct notes_merge_options *o,
 			    result_sha1);
 	OUTPUT(o, 4, "Finalized notes merge commit: %s",
 	       sha1_to_hex(result_sha1));
+	free(path);
 	return 0;
 }