diff --git a/fsck.c b/fsck.c
index cca6ae144f..3614aa56a3 100644
--- a/fsck.c
+++ b/fsck.c
@@ -226,16 +226,15 @@ static int object_on_skiplist(struct fsck_options *opts,
 	return opts && oid && oidset_contains(&opts->skip_oids, oid);
 }
 
-__attribute__((format (printf, 5, 6)))
-static int report(struct fsck_options *options,
-		  const struct object_id *oid, enum object_type object_type,
-		  enum fsck_msg_id msg_id, const char *fmt, ...)
+/*
+ * Provide the common functionality for either fscking refs or objects.
+ * It will get the current msg error type and call the error_func callback
+ * which is registered in the "fsck_options" struct.
+ */
+static int fsck_vreport(struct fsck_options *options,
+			void *fsck_report,
+			enum fsck_msg_id msg_id, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
-	va_list ap;
-	struct fsck_object_report report = {
-		.oid = oid,
-		.object_type = object_type
-	};
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 	enum fsck_msg_type msg_type = fsck_msg_type(msg_id, options);
 	int result;
@@ -243,9 +242,6 @@ static int report(struct fsck_options *options,
 	if (msg_type == FSCK_IGNORE)
 		return 0;
 
-	if (object_on_skiplist(options, oid))
-		return 0;
-
 	if (msg_type == FSCK_FATAL)
 		msg_type = FSCK_ERROR;
 	else if (msg_type == FSCK_INFO)
@@ -254,11 +250,31 @@ static int report(struct fsck_options *options,
 	prepare_msg_ids();
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s: ", msg_id_info[msg_id].camelcased);
 
-	va_start(ap, fmt);
 	strbuf_vaddf(&sb, fmt, ap);
-	result = options->error_func(options, &report,
+	result = options->error_func(options, fsck_report,
 				     msg_type, msg_id, sb.buf);
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
+
+	return result;
+}
+
+__attribute__((format (printf, 5, 6)))
+static int report(struct fsck_options *options,
+		  const struct object_id *oid, enum object_type object_type,
+		  enum fsck_msg_id msg_id, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+	struct fsck_object_report report = {
+		.oid = oid,
+		.object_type = object_type
+	};
+	int result;
+
+	if (object_on_skiplist(options, oid))
+		return 0;
+
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	result = fsck_vreport(options, &report, msg_id, fmt, ap);
 	va_end(ap);
 
 	return result;