diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index fa9f9021eafef09ddeaf61f21d577b7c53fa346a..225fdfb52c432b7af1af1cdf9aa9a31f8022e3ec 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -654,6 +654,7 @@ static void free_simplify(struct path_simplify *simplify)
 int read_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *path, const char *base, int baselen, const char **pathspec)
 {
 	struct path_simplify *simplify = create_simplify(pathspec);
+	char *pp = NULL;
 
 	/*
 	 * Make sure to do the per-directory exclude for all the
@@ -661,7 +662,8 @@ int read_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *path, const char *base, i
 	 */
 	if (baselen) {
 		if (dir->exclude_per_dir) {
-			char *p, *pp = xmalloc(baselen+1);
+			char *p;
+			pp = xmalloc(baselen+1);
 			memcpy(pp, base, baselen+1);
 			p = pp;
 			while (1) {
@@ -677,12 +679,12 @@ int read_directory(struct dir_struct *dir, const char *path, const char *base, i
 				else
 					p = pp + baselen;
 			}
-			free(pp);
 		}
 	}
 
 	read_directory_recursive(dir, path, base, baselen, 0, simplify);
 	free_simplify(simplify);
+	free(pp);
 	qsort(dir->entries, dir->nr, sizeof(struct dir_entry *), cmp_name);
 	qsort(dir->ignored, dir->ignored_nr, sizeof(struct dir_entry *), cmp_name);
 	return dir->nr;
diff --git a/t/t3700-add.sh b/t/t3700-add.sh
index a328bf57eb67fd96a88020f02948d380ec699496..287e058e3766df129dcde82aeddecac59b46e2a6 100755
--- a/t/t3700-add.sh
+++ b/t/t3700-add.sh
@@ -104,9 +104,33 @@ test_expect_success 'add ignored ones with -f' '
 	git ls-files --error-unmatch d.ig/d.if d.ig/d.ig
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'add ignored ones with -f' '
+	rm -f .git/index &&
+	git add -f d.?? &&
+	git ls-files --error-unmatch d.ig/d.if d.ig/d.ig
+'
+
+test_expect_success '.gitignore with subdirectory' '
+
+	rm -f .git/index &&
+	mkdir -p sub/dir &&
+	echo "!dir/a.*" >sub/.gitignore &&
+	>sub/a.ig &&
+	>sub/dir/a.ig &&
+	git add sub/dir &&
+	git ls-files --error-unmatch sub/dir/a.ig &&
+	rm -f .git/index &&
+	(
+		cd sub/dir &&
+		git add .
+	) &&
+	git ls-files --error-unmatch sub/dir/a.ig
+'
+
 mkdir 1 1/2 1/3
 touch 1/2/a 1/3/b 1/2/c
 test_expect_success 'check correct prefix detection' '
+	rm -f .git/index &&
 	git add 1/2/a 1/3/b 1/2/c
 '