diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index b055edc061..8edb700568 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -3501,12 +3501,12 @@ static int files_ref_store_remove_on_disk(struct ref_store *ref_store,
  */
 typedef int (*files_fsck_refs_fn)(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 				  struct fsck_options *o,
-				  const char *refs_check_dir,
+				  const char *refname,
 				  struct dir_iterator *iter);
 
 static int files_fsck_refs_name(struct ref_store *ref_store UNUSED,
 				struct fsck_options *o,
-				const char *refs_check_dir,
+				const char *refname,
 				struct dir_iterator *iter)
 {
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -3522,11 +3522,10 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_name(struct ref_store *ref_store UNUSED,
 	/*
 	 * This works right now because we never check the root refs.
 	 */
-	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/%s", refs_check_dir, iter->relative_path);
-	if (check_refname_format(sb.buf, 0)) {
+	if (check_refname_format(refname, 0)) {
 		struct fsck_ref_report report = { 0 };
 
-		report.path = sb.buf;
+		report.path = refname;
 		ret = fsck_report_ref(o, &report,
 				      FSCK_MSG_BAD_REF_NAME,
 				      "invalid refname format");
@@ -3542,6 +3541,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_dir(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 			       const char *refs_check_dir,
 			       files_fsck_refs_fn *fsck_refs_fn)
 {
+	struct strbuf refname = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct dir_iterator *iter;
 	int iter_status;
@@ -3560,11 +3560,15 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_dir(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 			continue;
 		} else if (S_ISREG(iter->st.st_mode) ||
 			   S_ISLNK(iter->st.st_mode)) {
+			strbuf_reset(&refname);
+			strbuf_addf(&refname, "%s/%s", refs_check_dir,
+				    iter->relative_path);
+
 			if (o->verbose)
-				fprintf_ln(stderr, "Checking %s/%s",
-					   refs_check_dir, iter->relative_path);
+				fprintf_ln(stderr, "Checking %s", refname.buf);
+
 			for (size_t i = 0; fsck_refs_fn[i]; i++) {
-				if (fsck_refs_fn[i](ref_store, o, refs_check_dir, iter))
+				if (fsck_refs_fn[i](ref_store, o, refname.buf, iter))
 					ret = -1;
 			}
 		} else {
@@ -3581,6 +3585,7 @@ static int files_fsck_refs_dir(struct ref_store *ref_store,
 
 out:
 	strbuf_release(&sb);
+	strbuf_release(&refname);
 	return ret;
 }