diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 8bbb9bd9a..a6609f19f 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -2284,21 +2284,11 @@ static void show_commit(struct commit *commit, void *data)
 		index_commit_for_bitmap(commit);
 }
 
-static void show_object(struct object *obj,
-			struct strbuf *path, const char *last,
-			void *data)
+static void show_object(struct object *obj, const char *name, void *data)
 {
-	char *name = path_name(path, last);
-
 	add_preferred_base_object(name);
 	add_object_entry(obj->oid.hash, obj->type, name, 0);
 	obj->flags |= OBJECT_ADDED;
-
-	/*
-	 * We will have generated the hash from the name,
-	 * but not saved a pointer to it - we can free it
-	 */
-	free((char *)name);
 }
 
 static void show_edge(struct commit *commit)
@@ -2480,8 +2470,7 @@ static int get_object_list_from_bitmap(struct rev_info *revs)
 }
 
 static void record_recent_object(struct object *obj,
-				 struct strbuf *path,
-				 const char *last,
+				 const char *name,
 				 void *data)
 {
 	sha1_array_append(&recent_objects, obj->oid.hash);
diff --git a/builtin/rev-list.c b/builtin/rev-list.c
index a92c3ca85..275da0d64 100644
--- a/builtin/rev-list.c
+++ b/builtin/rev-list.c
@@ -177,9 +177,7 @@ static void finish_commit(struct commit *commit, void *data)
 	free_commit_buffer(commit);
 }
 
-static void finish_object(struct object *obj,
-			  struct strbuf *path, const char *name,
-			  void *cb_data)
+static void finish_object(struct object *obj, const char *name, void *cb_data)
 {
 	struct rev_list_info *info = cb_data;
 	if (obj->type == OBJ_BLOB && !has_object_file(&obj->oid))
@@ -188,15 +186,13 @@ static void finish_object(struct object *obj,
 		parse_object(obj->oid.hash);
 }
 
-static void show_object(struct object *obj,
-			struct strbuf *path, const char *component,
-			void *cb_data)
+static void show_object(struct object *obj, const char *name, void *cb_data)
 {
 	struct rev_list_info *info = cb_data;
-	finish_object(obj, path, component, cb_data);
+	finish_object(obj, name, cb_data);
 	if (info->flags & REV_LIST_QUIET)
 		return;
-	show_object_with_name(stdout, obj, path, component);
+	show_object_with_name(stdout, obj, name);
 }
 
 static void show_edge(struct commit *commit)
diff --git a/list-objects.c b/list-objects.c
index 43977665d..917cc5d7c 100644
--- a/list-objects.c
+++ b/list-objects.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ static void process_blob(struct rev_info *revs,
 			 void *cb_data)
 {
 	struct object *obj = &blob->object;
+	size_t pathlen;
 
 	if (!revs->blob_objects)
 		return;
@@ -24,7 +25,11 @@ static void process_blob(struct rev_info *revs,
 	if (obj->flags & (UNINTERESTING | SEEN))
 		return;
 	obj->flags |= SEEN;
-	show(obj, path, name, cb_data);
+
+	pathlen = path->len;
+	strbuf_addstr(path, name);
+	show(obj, path->buf, cb_data);
+	strbuf_setlen(path, pathlen);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -86,9 +91,8 @@ static void process_tree(struct rev_info *revs,
 	}
 
 	obj->flags |= SEEN;
-	show(obj, base, name, cb_data);
-
 	strbuf_addstr(base, name);
+	show(obj, base->buf, cb_data);
 	if (base->len)
 		strbuf_addch(base, '/');
 
@@ -207,7 +211,7 @@ void traverse_commit_list(struct rev_info *revs,
 			continue;
 		if (obj->type == OBJ_TAG) {
 			obj->flags |= SEEN;
-			show_object(obj, NULL, name, data);
+			show_object(obj, name, data);
 			continue;
 		}
 		if (!path)
@@ -219,7 +223,7 @@ void traverse_commit_list(struct rev_info *revs,
 		}
 		if (obj->type == OBJ_BLOB) {
 			process_blob(revs, (struct blob *)obj, show_object,
-				     NULL, path, data);
+				     &base, path, data);
 			continue;
 		}
 		die("unknown pending object %s (%s)",
diff --git a/list-objects.h b/list-objects.h
index 69c4c7de6..0cebf8585 100644
--- a/list-objects.h
+++ b/list-objects.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #define LIST_OBJECTS_H
 
 typedef void (*show_commit_fn)(struct commit *, void *);
-typedef void (*show_object_fn)(struct object *, struct strbuf *, const char *, void *);
+typedef void (*show_object_fn)(struct object *, const char *, void *);
 void traverse_commit_list(struct rev_info *, show_commit_fn, show_object_fn, void *);
 
 typedef void (*show_edge_fn)(struct commit *);
diff --git a/pack-bitmap-write.c b/pack-bitmap-write.c
index 65ed3425b..c30bcd06c 100644
--- a/pack-bitmap-write.c
+++ b/pack-bitmap-write.c
@@ -148,8 +148,7 @@ static uint32_t find_object_pos(const unsigned char *sha1)
 	return entry->in_pack_pos;
 }
 
-static void show_object(struct object *object, struct strbuf *path,
-			const char *last, void *data)
+static void show_object(struct object *object, const char *name, void *data)
 {
 	struct bitmap *base = data;
 	bitmap_set(base, find_object_pos(object->oid.hash));
diff --git a/pack-bitmap.c b/pack-bitmap.c
index 51f790e7c..b949e5171 100644
--- a/pack-bitmap.c
+++ b/pack-bitmap.c
@@ -414,19 +414,15 @@ static int ext_index_add_object(struct object *object, const char *name)
 	return bitmap_pos + bitmap_git.pack->num_objects;
 }
 
-static void show_object(struct object *object, struct strbuf *path,
-			const char *last, void *data)
+static void show_object(struct object *object, const char *name, void *data)
 {
 	struct bitmap *base = data;
 	int bitmap_pos;
 
 	bitmap_pos = bitmap_position(object->oid.hash);
 
-	if (bitmap_pos < 0) {
-		char *name = path_name(path, last);
+	if (bitmap_pos < 0)
 		bitmap_pos = ext_index_add_object(object, name);
-		free(name);
-	}
 
 	bitmap_set(base, bitmap_pos);
 }
@@ -894,9 +890,8 @@ struct bitmap_test_data {
 	size_t seen;
 };
 
-static void test_show_object(struct object *object,
-			     struct strbuf *path,
-			     const char *last, void *data)
+static void test_show_object(struct object *object, const char *name,
+			     void *data)
 {
 	struct bitmap_test_data *tdata = data;
 	int bitmap_pos;
diff --git a/reachable.c b/reachable.c
index e60f08d2f..ed3520189 100644
--- a/reachable.c
+++ b/reachable.c
@@ -43,15 +43,14 @@ static int add_one_ref(const char *path, const struct object_id *oid,
  * The traversal will have already marked us as SEEN, so we
  * only need to handle any progress reporting here.
  */
-static void mark_object(struct object *obj, struct strbuf *path,
-			const char *name, void *data)
+static void mark_object(struct object *obj, const char *name, void *data)
 {
 	update_progress(data);
 }
 
 static void mark_commit(struct commit *c, void *data)
 {
-	mark_object(&c->object, NULL, NULL, data);
+	mark_object(&c->object, NULL, data);
 }
 
 struct recent_data {
diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index 3c8478181..82f3ca44b 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -25,27 +25,14 @@ volatile show_early_output_fn_t show_early_output;
 static const char *term_bad;
 static const char *term_good;
 
-char *path_name(struct strbuf *path, const char *name)
+void show_object_with_name(FILE *out, struct object *obj, const char *name)
 {
-	struct strbuf ret = STRBUF_INIT;
-	if (path)
-		strbuf_addbuf(&ret, path);
-	strbuf_addstr(&ret, name);
-	return strbuf_detach(&ret, NULL);
-}
-
-void show_object_with_name(FILE *out, struct object *obj,
-			   struct strbuf *path, const char *component)
-{
-	char *name = path_name(path, component);
-	char *p;
+	const char *p;
 
 	fprintf(out, "%s ", oid_to_hex(&obj->oid));
 	for (p = name; *p && *p != '\n'; p++)
 		fputc(*p, out);
 	fputc('\n', out);
-
-	free(name);
 }
 
 static void mark_blob_uninteresting(struct blob *blob)
diff --git a/revision.h b/revision.h
index 7beab1524..dca0d3817 100644
--- a/revision.h
+++ b/revision.h
@@ -259,8 +259,7 @@ extern void mark_tree_uninteresting(struct tree *tree);
 
 char *path_name(struct strbuf *path, const char *name);
 
-extern void show_object_with_name(FILE *, struct object *,
-				  struct strbuf *, const char *);
+extern void show_object_with_name(FILE *, struct object *, const char *);
 
 extern void add_pending_object(struct rev_info *revs,
 			       struct object *obj, const char *name);