diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 2344b5e6dd..418cf9a29c 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1614,8 +1614,8 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	o->merge_size = len;
 	mark_all_ce_unused(o->src_index);
 
-	if (o->src_index->fsmonitor_last_update)
-		o->result.fsmonitor_last_update = o->src_index->fsmonitor_last_update;
+	o->result.fsmonitor_last_update =
+		xstrdup_or_null(o->src_index->fsmonitor_last_update);
 
 	/*
 	 * Sparse checkout loop #1: set NEW_SKIP_WORKTREE on existing entries