diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index f5b50e520..3be001882 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -838,13 +838,16 @@ static int check_tracking_name(struct remote *remote, void *cb_data)
 	memset(&query, 0, sizeof(struct refspec));
 	query.src = cb->src_ref;
 	if (remote_find_tracking(remote, &query) ||
-	    get_sha1(query.dst, cb->dst_sha1))
+	    get_sha1(query.dst, cb->dst_sha1)) {
+		free(query.dst);
 		return 0;
+	}
 	if (cb->dst_ref) {
+		free(query.dst);
 		cb->unique = 0;
 		return 0;
 	}
-	cb->dst_ref = xstrdup(query.dst);
+	cb->dst_ref = query.dst;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/t/t9802-git-p4-filetype.sh b/t/t9802-git-p4-filetype.sh
index eeefa6790..b0d1d94bf 100755
--- a/t/t9802-git-p4-filetype.sh
+++ b/t/t9802-git-p4-filetype.sh
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ test_expect_success 'gitattributes setting eol=lf produces lf newlines' '
 		git init &&
 		echo "* eol=lf" >.gitattributes &&
 		git p4 sync //depot@all &&
-		git checkout master &&
+		git checkout -b master p4/master &&
 		test_cmp "$cli"/f-unix-orig f-unix &&
 		test_cmp "$cli"/f-win-as-lf f-win
 	)
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ test_expect_success 'gitattributes setting eol=crlf produces crlf newlines' '
 		git init &&
 		echo "* eol=crlf" >.gitattributes &&
 		git p4 sync //depot@all &&
-		git checkout master &&
+		git checkout -b master p4/master &&
 		test_cmp "$cli"/f-unix-as-crlf f-unix &&
 		test_cmp "$cli"/f-win-orig f-win
 	)