diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index 7f5750ce6a..34a91c4357 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -2405,7 +2405,7 @@ static int detect_and_process_renames(struct merge_options *opt,
 	clean &= collect_renames(opt, &combined, MERGE_SIDE2,
 				 &renames->dir_renames[1],
 				 &renames->dir_renames[2]);
-	QSORT(combined.queue, combined.nr, compare_pairs);
+	STABLE_QSORT(combined.queue, combined.nr, compare_pairs);
 	trace2_region_leave("merge", "directory renames", opt->repo);
 
 	trace2_region_enter("merge", "process renames", opt->repo);
@@ -2550,6 +2550,7 @@ static void write_tree(struct object_id *result_oid,
 	 */
 	relevant_entries.items = versions->items + offset;
 	relevant_entries.nr = versions->nr - offset;
+	/* No need for STABLE_QSORT -- filenames must be unique */
 	QSORT(relevant_entries.items, relevant_entries.nr, tree_entry_order);
 
 	/* Pre-allocate some space in buf */
@@ -3325,6 +3326,11 @@ static int record_conflicted_index_entries(struct merge_options *opt,
 	 * entries we added to the end into their right locations.
 	 */
 	remove_marked_cache_entries(index, 1);
+	/*
+	 * No need for STABLE_QSORT -- cmp_cache_name_compare sorts primarily
+	 * on filename and secondarily on stage, and (name, stage #) are a
+	 * unique tuple.
+	 */
 	QSORT(index->cache, index->cache_nr, cmp_cache_name_compare);
 
 	return errs;