*/
                template_dir = DEFAULT_GIT_TEMPLATE_DIR;
                if (!is_absolute_path(template_dir)) {
-                       const char *exec_path = git_exec_path();
-                       template_dir = prefix_filename(exec_path, strlen(exec_path), template_dir);
+                       struct strbuf d = STRBUF_INIT;
+                       strbuf_addf(&d, "%s/%s", git_exec_path(), template_dir);
+                       template_dir = strbuf_detach(&d, NULL);
                }
        }
        strcpy(template_path, template_dir);
 
                system_wide = ETC_GITCONFIG;
                if (!is_absolute_path(system_wide)) {
                        /* interpret path relative to exec-dir */
-                       const char *exec_path = git_exec_path();
-                       system_wide = strdup(prefix_filename(exec_path,
-                                                            strlen(exec_path),
-                                                            system_wide));
+                       struct strbuf d = STRBUF_INIT;
+                       strbuf_addf(&d, "%s/%s", git_exec_path(), system_wide);
+                       system_wide = strbuf_detach(&d, NULL);
                }
        }
        return system_wide;