if (get_oid(arg, &object))
                die(_("failed to resolve '%s' as a valid ref."), arg);
-       if (!(buf = read_object_file(&object, &type, &len))) {
-               free(buf);
+       if (!(buf = read_object_file(&object, &type, &len)))
                die(_("failed to read object '%s'."), arg);
-       }
        if (type != OBJ_BLOB) {
                free(buf);
                die(_("cannot read note data from non-blob object '%s'."), arg);
                usage_with_options(git_notes_merge_usage, options);
        }
 
-       init_notes_merge_options(&o);
+       init_notes_merge_options(the_repository, &o);
        o.verbosity = verbosity + NOTES_MERGE_VERBOSITY_DEFAULT;
 
        if (do_abort)