diff --git a/src/cinnabar-fast-import.c b/src/cinnabar-fast-import.c
index b899dd5fc..b1f118255 100644
--- a/src/cinnabar-fast-import.c
+++ b/src/cinnabar-fast-import.c
@@ -619,28 +619,20 @@ void store_replace_map(struct object_id *result) {
 void store_git_tree(struct strbuf *tree_buf, const struct object_id *reference,
                     struct object_id *result)
 {
-	struct last_object ref_tree = { STRBUF_INIT, 0, 0, 1 };
-	struct last_object *last_tree = NULL;
-	struct object_entry *oe = NULL;
-	char *buf = NULL;
-
 	ENSURE_INIT();
 	if (reference) {
-		oe = find_object((struct object_id *)reference);
-	}
-	if (oe && oe->idx.offset > 1 && oe->pack_id == pack_id) {
+		struct strslice ref_tree;
+		struct object_entry *oe;
 		unsigned long len;
-		ref_tree.data.buf = buf = gfi_unpack_entry(oe, &len);
-		ref_tree.data.len = len;
-		ref_tree.offset = oe->idx.offset;
-		ref_tree.depth = oe->depth;
-		last_tree = &ref_tree;
-	}
-	store_object(OBJ_TREE, tree_buf, last_tree, result, 0);
-	if (last_tree) {
-		// store_object messes with last_tree so free using an old
-		// copy of the pointer.
-		free(buf);
+		ref_tree.buf = gfi_unpack_entry(oe, &len);
+		ref_tree.len = len;
+		oe = find_object((struct object_id *)reference);
+		store_git_object(OBJ_TREE, strbuf_as_slice(tree_buf), result,
+		                 &ref_tree, oe);
+		free((char*)ref_tree.buf);
+	} else {
+		store_git_object(OBJ_TREE, strbuf_as_slice(tree_buf), result,
+		                 NULL, NULL);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -656,6 +648,23 @@ void store_git_commit(struct strbuf *commit_buf, struct object_id *result)
 	store_object(OBJ_COMMIT, commit_buf, NULL, result, 0);
 }
 
+void store_git_object(enum object_type type, const struct strslice buf,
+                      struct object_id *result, const struct strslice *reference,
+                      const struct object_entry *reference_entry)
+{
+	ENSURE_INIT();
+	struct strbuf data = { .buf = (char*)buf.buf, .len = buf.len, .alloc = 0 };
+	struct last_object ref_object = { STRBUF_INIT, 0, 0, 1 };
+	if (reference && reference_entry && reference_entry->idx.offset > 1 &&
+ 		    	reference_entry->pack_id == pack_id) {
+		ref_object.data.buf = (char*)reference->buf;
+		ref_object.data.len = reference->len;
+		ref_object.offset = reference_entry->idx.offset;
+		ref_object.depth = reference_entry->depth;
+	}
+	store_object(type, &data, reference ? &ref_object : NULL, result, 0);
+}
+
 const struct object_id empty_blob = { {
 	0xe6, 0x9d, 0xe2, 0x9b, 0xb2, 0xd1, 0xd6, 0x43, 0x4b, 0x8b,
 	0x29, 0xae, 0x77, 0x5a, 0xd8, 0xc2, 0xe4, 0x8c, 0x53, 0x91,
diff --git a/src/cinnabar-fast-import.h b/src/cinnabar-fast-import.h
index 8112c402f..3b35ed752 100644
--- a/src/cinnabar-fast-import.h
+++ b/src/cinnabar-fast-import.h
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ void store_git_commit(struct strbuf *commit_buf, struct object_id *result);
 
 void store_git_blob(struct strbuf *blob_buf, struct object_id *result);
 
+void store_git_object(enum object_type type, const struct strslice buf,
+                      struct object_id *result, const struct strslice *reference,
+                      const struct object_entry *reference_entry);
+
 const struct object_id *ensure_empty_blob(void);
 
 void do_cleanup(int rollback);