diff --git a/reftable/merged.c b/reftable/merged.c
index c258ce953e..fb9978d798 100644
--- a/reftable/merged.c
+++ b/reftable/merged.c
@@ -51,8 +51,6 @@ static void merged_iter_close(void *p)
 		reftable_iterator_destroy(&mi->stack[i]);
 	}
 	reftable_free(mi->stack);
-	strbuf_release(&mi->key);
-	strbuf_release(&mi->entry_key);
 }
 
 static int merged_iter_advance_nonnull_subiter(struct merged_iter *mi,
@@ -105,14 +103,11 @@ static int merged_iter_next_entry(struct merged_iter *mi,
 	  such a deployment, the loop below must be changed to collect all
 	  entries for the same key, and return new the newest one.
 	*/
-	reftable_record_key(&entry.rec, &mi->entry_key);
 	while (!merged_iter_pqueue_is_empty(mi->pq)) {
 		struct pq_entry top = merged_iter_pqueue_top(mi->pq);
-		int cmp = 0;
+		int cmp;
 
-		reftable_record_key(&top.rec, &mi->key);
-
-		cmp = strbuf_cmp(&mi->key, &mi->entry_key);
+		cmp = reftable_record_cmp(&top.rec, &entry.rec);
 		if (cmp > 0)
 			break;
 
@@ -246,8 +241,6 @@ static int merged_table_seek_record(struct reftable_merged_table *mt,
 		.typ = reftable_record_type(rec),
 		.hash_id = mt->hash_id,
 		.suppress_deletions = mt->suppress_deletions,
-		.key = STRBUF_INIT,
-		.entry_key = STRBUF_INIT,
 	};
 	int n = 0;
 	int err = 0;
diff --git a/reftable/merged.h b/reftable/merged.h
index d5b39dfe7f..7d9f95d27e 100644
--- a/reftable/merged.h
+++ b/reftable/merged.h
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@ struct merged_iter {
 	uint8_t typ;
 	int suppress_deletions;
 	struct merged_iter_pqueue pq;
-	struct strbuf key;
-	struct strbuf entry_key;
 };
 
 void merged_table_release(struct reftable_merged_table *mt);