diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 607c2ea612..a7e4de15a2 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ int safe_create_leading_directories(char *path);
 int safe_create_leading_directories_const(const char *path);
 int mkdir_in_gitdir(const char *path);
 extern char *expand_user_path(const char *path);
-char *enter_repo(char *path, int strict);
+const char *enter_repo(const char *path, int strict);
 static inline int is_absolute_path(const char *path)
 {
 	return is_dir_sep(path[0]) || has_dos_drive_prefix(path);
diff --git a/daemon.c b/daemon.c
index 4c8346d5a1..9253192aec 100644
--- a/daemon.c
+++ b/daemon.c
@@ -108,11 +108,11 @@ static void NORETURN daemon_die(const char *err, va_list params)
 	exit(1);
 }
 
-static char *path_ok(char *directory)
+static const char *path_ok(char *directory)
 {
 	static char rpath[PATH_MAX];
 	static char interp_path[PATH_MAX];
-	char *path;
+	const char *path;
 	char *dir;
 
 	dir = directory;
diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index 6f3f5d56c0..01028f2826 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ char *expand_user_path(const char *path)
  * links.  User relative paths are also returned as they are given,
  * except DWIM suffixing.
  */
-char *enter_repo(char *path, int strict)
+const char *enter_repo(const char *path, int strict)
 {
 	static char used_path[PATH_MAX];
 	static char validated_path[PATH_MAX];
@@ -297,14 +297,16 @@ char *enter_repo(char *path, int strict)
 		};
 		int len = strlen(path);
 		int i;
-		while ((1 < len) && (path[len-1] == '/')) {
-			path[len-1] = 0;
+		while ((1 < len) && (path[len-1] == '/'))
 			len--;
-		}
+
 		if (PATH_MAX <= len)
 			return NULL;
-		if (path[0] == '~') {
-			char *newpath = expand_user_path(path);
+		strncpy(used_path, path, len); used_path[len] = 0 ;
+		strcpy(validated_path, used_path);
+
+		if (used_path[0] == '~') {
+			char *newpath = expand_user_path(used_path);
 			if (!newpath || (PATH_MAX - 10 < strlen(newpath))) {
 				free(newpath);
 				return NULL;
@@ -316,24 +318,18 @@ char *enter_repo(char *path, int strict)
 			 * anyway.
 			 */
 			strcpy(used_path, newpath); free(newpath);
-			strcpy(validated_path, path);
-			path = used_path;
 		}
 		else if (PATH_MAX - 10 < len)
 			return NULL;
-		else {
-			path = strcpy(used_path, path);
-			strcpy(validated_path, path);
-		}
-		len = strlen(path);
+		len = strlen(used_path);
 		for (i = 0; suffix[i]; i++) {
-			strcpy(path + len, suffix[i]);
-			if (!access(path, F_OK)) {
+			strcpy(used_path + len, suffix[i]);
+			if (!access(used_path, F_OK)) {
 				strcat(validated_path, suffix[i]);
 				break;
 			}
 		}
-		if (!suffix[i] || chdir(path))
+		if (!suffix[i] || chdir(used_path))
 			return NULL;
 		path = validated_path;
 	}