diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index f71844a23a..3b6e499929 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ static int checkout_paths(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 	if (opts->source_tree)
 		read_tree_some(opts->source_tree, &opts->pathspec);
 
-	ps_matched = xcalloc(1, opts->pathspec.nr);
+	ps_matched = xcalloc(opts->pathspec.nr, 1);
 
 	/*
 	 * Make sure all pathspecs participated in locating the paths
diff --git a/builtin/ls-files.c b/builtin/ls-files.c
index 6fa2205734..b6a7cb0c7c 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-files.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-files.c
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ int cmd_ls_files(int argc, const char **argv, const char *cmd_prefix)
 
 	/* Treat unmatching pathspec elements as errors */
 	if (pathspec.nr && error_unmatch)
-		ps_matched = xcalloc(1, pathspec.nr);
+		ps_matched = xcalloc(pathspec.nr, 1);
 
 	if ((dir.flags & DIR_SHOW_IGNORED) && !exc_given)
 		die("ls-files --ignored needs some exclude pattern");