diff --git a/core/file.cpp b/core/file.cpp
index 2ce68b4a3..f1cdc5215 100644
--- a/core/file.cpp
+++ b/core/file.cpp
@@ -266,20 +266,18 @@ static int parse_file_buffer(const char *filename, struct memblock *mem, struct
 
 extern "C" bool remote_repo_uptodate(const char *filename, struct git_info *info)
 {
-	char *current_sha = copy_string(saved_git_id);
+	std::string current_sha = saved_git_id;
 
 	if (is_git_repository(filename, info) && open_git_repository(info)) {
 		const char *sha = get_sha(info->repo, info->branch);
-		if (!empty_string(sha) && same_string(sha, current_sha)) {
+		if (!sha.empty() && current_sha == sha) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "already have loaded SHA %s - don't load again\n", sha);
-			free(current_sha);
 			return true;
 		}
 	}
 
 	// Either the repository couldn't be opened, or the SHA couldn't
 	// be found.
-	free(current_sha);
 	return false;
 }
 
diff --git a/core/git-access.h b/core/git-access.h
index ea85ee07d..0aec388cd 100644
--- a/core/git-access.h
+++ b/core/git-access.h
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ extern int git_load_dives(struct git_info *, struct divelog *log);
 extern const char *get_sha(git_repository *repo, const char *branch);
 extern int do_git_save(struct git_info *, bool select_only, bool create_empty);
 extern void cleanup_git_info(struct git_info *);
-extern const char *saved_git_id;
 extern bool git_local_only;
 extern bool git_remote_sync_successful;
 extern void clear_git_id(void);
@@ -58,6 +57,10 @@ int get_authorship(git_repository *repo, git_signature **authorp);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
+
+#include <string>
+extern std::string saved_git_id;
+
 #endif
 #endif // GITACCESS_H
 
diff --git a/core/load-git.cpp b/core/load-git.cpp
index e6ec9ef77..dbb871707 100644
--- a/core/load-git.cpp
+++ b/core/load-git.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <git2.h>
+#include <memory>
 #include <libdivecomputer/parser.h>
 
 #include "gettext.h"
@@ -32,7 +33,8 @@
 
 #define ARRAY_SIZE(array) (sizeof(array)/sizeof(array[0]))
 
-const char *saved_git_id = NULL;
+// TODO: Should probably be moved to struct divelog to allow for multi-document
+std::string saved_git_id;
 
 struct git_parser_state {
 	git_repository *repo;
@@ -1878,8 +1880,7 @@ static int load_dives_from_tree(git_repository *repo, git_tree *tree, struct git
 
 extern "C" void clear_git_id(void)
 {
-	free((void *)saved_git_id);
-	saved_git_id = NULL;
+	saved_git_id.clear();
 }
 
 extern "C" void set_git_id(const struct git_oid *id)
@@ -1887,8 +1888,7 @@ extern "C" void set_git_id(const struct git_oid *id)
 	char git_id_buffer[GIT_OID_HEXSZ + 1];
 
 	git_oid_tostr(git_id_buffer, sizeof(git_id_buffer), id);
-	free((void *)saved_git_id);
-	saved_git_id = strdup(git_id_buffer);
+	saved_git_id = git_id_buffer;
 }
 
 static int find_commit(git_repository *repo, const char *branch, git_commit **commit_p)
diff --git a/core/save-git.cpp b/core/save-git.cpp
index 079a20306..78e0b0ec3 100644
--- a/core/save-git.cpp
+++ b/core/save-git.cpp
@@ -1193,19 +1193,19 @@ static int create_new_commit(struct git_info *info, git_oid *tree_id, bool creat
 		return report_error("Invalid branch name '%s'", info->branch);
 	case GIT_ENOTFOUND: /* We'll happily create it */
 		ref = NULL;
-		parent = try_to_find_parent(saved_git_id, info->repo);
+		parent = try_to_find_parent(saved_git_id.c_str(), info->repo);
 		break;
 	case 0:
 		if (git_reference_peel(&parent, ref, GIT_OBJ_COMMIT))
 			return report_error("Unable to look up parent in branch '%s'", info->branch);
 
-		if (saved_git_id) {
+		if (!saved_git_id.empty()) {
 			if (existing_filename && verbose)
 				SSRF_INFO("existing filename %s\n", existing_filename);
 			const git_oid *id = git_commit_id((const git_commit *) parent);
 			/* if we are saving to the same git tree we got this from, let's make
 			 * sure there is no confusion */
-			if (same_string(existing_filename, info->url) && git_oid_strcmp(id, saved_git_id))
+			if (same_string(existing_filename, info->url) && git_oid_strcmp(id, saved_git_id.c_str()))
 				return report_error("The git branch does not match the git parent of the source");
 		}
 
@@ -1321,7 +1321,7 @@ extern "C" int do_git_save(struct git_info *info, bool select_only, bool create_
 	 * Check if we can do the cached writes - we need to
 	 * have the original git commit we loaded in the repo
 	 */
-	cached_ok = try_to_find_parent(saved_git_id, info->repo);
+	cached_ok = try_to_find_parent(saved_git_id.c_str(), info->repo);
 
 	/* Start with an empty tree: no subdirectories, no files */
 	if (git_treebuilder_new(&tree.files, info->repo, NULL))