struct tree *tree = lookup_tree(sha1);
                if (tree) {
                        obj = &tree->object;
+                       if (!tree->buffer)
+                               tree->object.parsed = 0;
                        if (!tree->object.parsed) {
                                if (parse_tree_buffer(tree, buffer, size))
                                        return NULL;
        enum object_type type;
        int eaten;
        const unsigned char *repl = lookup_replace_object(sha1);
-       void *buffer = read_sha1_file(sha1, &type, &size);
+       void *buffer;
+       struct object *obj;
+
+       obj = lookup_object(sha1);
+       if (obj && obj->parsed)
+               return obj;
 
+       buffer = read_sha1_file(sha1, &type, &size);
        if (buffer) {
-               struct object *obj;
                if (check_sha1_signature(repl, buffer, size, typename(type)) < 0) {
                        free(buffer);
                        error("sha1 mismatch %s\n", sha1_to_hex(repl));