diff --git a/core/load-git.c b/core/load-git.c
index 9d36e4e39..e99bc9af0 100644
--- a/core/load-git.c
+++ b/core/load-git.c
@@ -334,11 +334,11 @@ static char *pop_cstring(struct membuffer *str, const char *err)
 
 	if (!str) {
 		report_error("git-load: string marker without any strings ('%s')", err);
-		return "";
+		return strdup("");
 	}
 	if (!str->len) {
 		report_error("git-load: string marker after running out of strings ('%s')", err);
-		return "";
+		return strdup("");
 	}
 	len = strlen(mb_cstring(str)) + 1;
 	return remove_from_front(str, len);