if (normalize_path_copy(sanitized, sanitized))
                goto error_out;
        if (is_absolute_path(orig)) {
+               size_t len, total;
                const char *work_tree = get_git_work_tree();
-               size_t len = strlen(work_tree);
-               size_t total = strlen(sanitized) + 1;
+               if (!work_tree)
+                       goto error_out;
+               len = strlen(work_tree);
+               total = strlen(sanitized) + 1;
                if (strncmp(sanitized, work_tree, len) ||
                    (sanitized[len] != '\0' && sanitized[len] != '/')) {
                error_out:
 
        GIT_DIR=../.. GIT_WORK_TREE=.. git grep -l changed | grep dir/tracked)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git commit' '
+       (
+               cd repo.git &&
+               GIT_DIR=. GIT_WORK_TREE=work git commit -a -m done
+       )
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'absolute pathspec should fail gracefully' '
+       (
+               cd repo.git || exit 1
+               git config --unset core.worktree
+               test_must_fail git log HEAD -- /home
+       )
+'
+
 test_done