diff --git a/tree-walk.c b/tree-walk.c
index 79dba1d0f4..4dc86c7fe5 100644
--- a/tree-walk.c
+++ b/tree-walk.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ static void decode_tree_entry(struct tree_desc *desc, const char *buf, unsigned
 
 	/* Initialize the descriptor entry */
 	desc->entry.path = path;
-	desc->entry.mode = mode;
+	desc->entry.mode = canon_mode(mode);
 	desc->entry.sha1 = (const unsigned char *)(path + len);
 }
 
diff --git a/tree-walk.h b/tree-walk.h
index ae04b6417d..ae7fb3a824 100644
--- a/tree-walk.h
+++ b/tree-walk.h
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ struct tree_desc {
 static inline const unsigned char *tree_entry_extract(struct tree_desc *desc, const char **pathp, unsigned int *modep)
 {
 	*pathp = desc->entry.path;
-	*modep = canon_mode(desc->entry.mode);
+	*modep = desc->entry.mode;
 	return desc->entry.sha1;
 }