diff --git a/builtin/blame.c b/builtin/blame.c
index 2e7b3030c6..7ec7823430 100644
--- a/builtin/blame.c
+++ b/builtin/blame.c
@@ -2808,7 +2808,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	lno = prepare_lines(&sb);
 
 	if (lno && !range_list.nr)
-		string_list_append(&range_list, xstrdup("1"));
+		string_list_append(&range_list, "1");
 
 	anchor = 1;
 	range_set_init(&ranges, range_list.nr);