diff --git a/builtin-merge-recursive.c b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
index 910c0d20e7ba1128c705a49bfd9966212c5420b2..175e8b1660c667be847a087c35d290a814718c34 100644
--- a/builtin-merge-recursive.c
+++ b/builtin-merge-recursive.c
@@ -551,9 +551,19 @@ static void update_file_flags(const unsigned char *sha,
 			die("cannot read object %s '%s'", sha1_to_hex(sha), path);
 		if (type != OBJ_BLOB)
 			die("blob expected for %s '%s'", sha1_to_hex(sha), path);
+		if (S_ISREG(mode)) {
+			struct strbuf strbuf;
+			strbuf_init(&strbuf, 0);
+			if (convert_to_working_tree(path, buf, size, &strbuf)) {
+				free(buf);
+				size = strbuf.len;
+				buf = strbuf_detach(&strbuf, NULL);
+			}
+		}
 
 		if (make_room_for_path(path) < 0) {
 			update_wd = 0;
+			free(buf);
 			goto update_index;
 		}
 		if (S_ISREG(mode) || (!has_symlinks && S_ISLNK(mode))) {
@@ -576,6 +586,7 @@ static void update_file_flags(const unsigned char *sha,
 		} else
 			die("do not know what to do with %06o %s '%s'",
 			    mode, sha1_to_hex(sha), path);
+		free(buf);
 	}
  update_index:
 	if (update_cache)
diff --git a/t/t6033-merge-crlf.sh b/t/t6033-merge-crlf.sh
index ea22837aa789e11e4c6b7c55d34747c94d5ab7ae..75d9602de4d4238b4182956127540525f711d33f 100755
--- a/t/t6033-merge-crlf.sh
+++ b/t/t6033-merge-crlf.sh
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ test_expect_success 'Check "ours" is CRLF' '
 	test_cmp file file.temp
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'Check that conflict file is CRLF' '
+test_expect_success 'Check that conflict file is CRLF' '
 	git reset --hard a &&
 	test_must_fail git merge side &&
 	cat file | remove_cr | append_cr >file.temp &&