diff --git a/builtin/receive-pack.c b/builtin/receive-pack.c
index a91eec8b1c..c9b92bffda 100644
--- a/builtin/receive-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/receive-pack.c
@@ -847,9 +847,11 @@ static struct command *read_head_info(struct sha1_array *shallow)
 			break;
 
 		if (len == 48 && starts_with(line, "shallow ")) {
-			if (get_sha1_hex(line + 8, old_sha1))
-				die("protocol error: expected shallow sha, got '%s'", line + 8);
-			sha1_array_append(shallow, old_sha1);
+			unsigned char sha1[20];
+			if (get_sha1_hex(line + 8, sha1))
+				die("protocol error: expected shallow sha, got '%s'",
+				    line + 8);
+			sha1_array_append(shallow, sha1);
 			continue;
 		}