diff --git a/builtin/upload-archive.c b/builtin/upload-archive.c
index b928beb8ed..c3d134eac1 100644
--- a/builtin/upload-archive.c
+++ b/builtin/upload-archive.c
@@ -27,13 +27,8 @@ int cmd_upload_archive_writer(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (argc != 2)
 		usage(upload_archive_usage);
 
-	if (strlen(argv[1]) + 1 > sizeof(buf))
-		die("insanely long repository name");
-
-	strcpy(buf, argv[1]); /* enter-repo smudges its argument */
-
-	if (!enter_repo(buf, 0))
-		die("'%s' does not appear to be a git repository", buf);
+	if (!enter_repo(argv[1], 0))
+		die("'%s' does not appear to be a git repository", argv[1]);
 
 	/* put received options in sent_argv[] */
 	sent_argc = 1;