diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 3b4dd60312..4ee9ba6c63 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ static int list_paths(struct string_list *list, const char *with_tree,
 	m = xcalloc(1, pattern->nr);
 
 	if (with_tree) {
-		char *max_prefix = common_prefix(pattern->raw);
+		char *max_prefix = common_prefix(pattern);
 		overlay_tree_on_cache(with_tree, max_prefix ? max_prefix : prefix);
 		free(max_prefix);
 	}
diff --git a/builtin/ls-files.c b/builtin/ls-files.c
index fa1a6bec01..c074e6fc7c 100644
--- a/builtin/ls-files.c
+++ b/builtin/ls-files.c
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ int cmd_ls_files(int argc, const char **argv, const char *cmd_prefix)
 		       prefix, argv);
 
 	/* Find common prefix for all pathspec's */
-	max_prefix = common_prefix(pathspec.raw);
+	max_prefix = common_prefix(&pathspec);
 	max_prefix_len = max_prefix ? strlen(max_prefix) : 0;
 
 	/* Treat unmatching pathspec elements as errors */
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 290c7a33cb..019ad09b6e 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -103,26 +103,25 @@ static int fnmatch_icase_mem(const char *pattern, int patternlen,
 	return match_status;
 }
 
-static size_t common_prefix_len(const char **pathspec)
+static size_t common_prefix_len(const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 {
-	const char *n, *first;
+	int n;
 	size_t max = 0;
-	int literal = limit_pathspec_to_literal();
 
-	if (!pathspec)
-		return max;
+	GUARD_PATHSPEC(pathspec, PATHSPEC_FROMTOP | PATHSPEC_MAXDEPTH);
 
-	first = *pathspec;
-	while ((n = *pathspec++)) {
-		size_t i, len = 0;
-		for (i = 0; first == n || i < max; i++) {
-			char c = n[i];
-			if (!c || c != first[i] || (!literal && is_glob_special(c)))
+	for (n = 0; n < pathspec->nr; n++) {
+		size_t i = 0, len = 0;
+		while (i < pathspec->items[n].nowildcard_len &&
+		       (n == 0 || i < max)) {
+			char c = pathspec->items[n].match[i];
+			if (c != pathspec->items[0].match[i])
 				break;
 			if (c == '/')
 				len = i + 1;
+			i++;
 		}
-		if (first == n || len < max) {
+		if (n == 0 || len < max) {
 			max = len;
 			if (!max)
 				break;
@@ -135,11 +134,11 @@ static size_t common_prefix_len(const char **pathspec)
  * Returns a copy of the longest leading path common among all
  * pathspecs.
  */
-char *common_prefix(const char **pathspec)
+char *common_prefix(const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 {
 	unsigned long len = common_prefix_len(pathspec);
 
-	return len ? xmemdupz(*pathspec, len) : NULL;
+	return len ? xmemdupz(pathspec->items[0].match, len) : NULL;
 }
 
 int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
@@ -150,7 +149,7 @@ int fill_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 	 * Calculate common prefix for the pathspec, and
 	 * use that to optimize the directory walk
 	 */
-	len = common_prefix_len(pathspec->raw);
+	len = common_prefix_len(pathspec);
 
 	/* Read the directory and prune it */
 	read_directory(dir, pathspec->nr ? pathspec->raw[0] : "", len, pathspec);
diff --git a/dir.h b/dir.h
index 076dd962ef..ba40e69bc5 100644
--- a/dir.h
+++ b/dir.h
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ struct dir_struct {
 #define MATCHED_EXACTLY 3
 extern int simple_length(const char *match);
 extern int no_wildcard(const char *string);
-extern char *common_prefix(const char **pathspec);
+extern char *common_prefix(const struct pathspec *pathspec);
 extern int match_pathspec(const char **pathspec, const char *name, int namelen, int prefix, char *seen);
 extern int match_pathspec_depth(const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 				const char *name, int namelen,