if (symmetric) {
                        struct commit_list *exclude;
                        struct commit *a, *b;
-                       a = lookup_commit_reference(&start_oid);
-                       b = lookup_commit_reference(&end_oid);
+                       a = lookup_commit_reference(the_repository, &start_oid);
+                       b = lookup_commit_reference(the_repository, &end_oid);
                        if (!a || !b) {
                                *dotdot = '.';
                                return 0;
 
        *dotdot = 0;
        if (get_oid_committish(arg, &oid) ||
-           !(commit = lookup_commit_reference(&oid))) {
+           !(commit = lookup_commit_reference(the_repository, &oid))) {
                *dotdot = '^';
                return 0;
        }