diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 5d11f10e66..14e9043f9d 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1658,7 +1658,7 @@ static int verify_clean_subdirectory(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 	memset(&d, 0, sizeof(d));
 	if (o->dir)
 		d.exclude_per_dir = o->dir->exclude_per_dir;
-	i = read_directory(&d, &the_index, pathbuf, namelen+1, NULL);
+	i = read_directory(&d, o->src_index, pathbuf, namelen+1, NULL);
 	if (i)
 		return o->gently ? -1 :
 			add_rejected_path(o, ERROR_NOT_UPTODATE_DIR, ce->name);
@@ -1700,7 +1700,7 @@ static int check_ok_to_remove(const char *name, int len, int dtype,
 		return 0;
 
 	if (o->dir &&
-	    is_excluded(o->dir, &the_index, name, &dtype))
+	    is_excluded(o->dir, o->src_index, name, &dtype))
 		/*
 		 * ce->name is explicitly excluded, so it is Ok to
 		 * overwrite it.