diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 6aaa8d4406..a85b710b48 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -92,8 +92,11 @@ static pthread_cond_t cond_result;
 
 static int skip_first_line;
 
-static void add_work(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct grep_source *gs)
+static void add_work(struct grep_opt *opt, struct grep_source *gs)
 {
+	if (opt->binary != GREP_BINARY_TEXT)
+		grep_source_load_driver(gs, opt->repo->index);
+
 	grep_lock();
 
 	while ((todo_end+1) % ARRAY_SIZE(todo) == todo_done) {
@@ -101,9 +104,6 @@ static void add_work(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct grep_source *gs)
 	}
 
 	todo[todo_end].source = *gs;
-	if (opt->binary != GREP_BINARY_TEXT)
-		grep_source_load_driver(&todo[todo_end].source,
-					opt->repo->index);
 	todo[todo_end].done = 0;
 	strbuf_reset(&todo[todo_end].out);
 	todo_end = (todo_end + 1) % ARRAY_SIZE(todo);