diff --git a/builtin/fast-export.c b/builtin/fast-export.c
index 77dffd1ce3a5f809a81793f67b9297a555bab1fa..d380155d9cf8fedf133dddbae479a910decd55b2 100644
--- a/builtin/fast-export.c
+++ b/builtin/fast-export.c
@@ -113,12 +113,13 @@ static void show_progress(void)
 		printf("progress %d objects\n", counter);
 }
 
-static void handle_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
+static void export_blob(const unsigned char *sha1)
 {
 	unsigned long size;
 	enum object_type type;
 	char *buf;
 	struct object *object;
+	int eaten;
 
 	if (no_data)
 		return;
@@ -126,16 +127,18 @@ static void handle_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
 	if (is_null_sha1(sha1))
 		return;
 
-	object = parse_object(sha1);
-	if (!object)
-		die ("Could not read blob %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
-
-	if (object->flags & SHOWN)
+	object = lookup_object(sha1);
+	if (object && object->flags & SHOWN)
 		return;
 
 	buf = read_sha1_file(sha1, &type, &size);
 	if (!buf)
 		die ("Could not read blob %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+	if (check_sha1_signature(sha1, buf, size, typename(type)) < 0)
+		die("sha1 mismatch in blob %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
+	object = parse_object_buffer(sha1, type, size, buf, &eaten);
+	if (!object)
+		die("Could not read blob %s", sha1_to_hex(sha1));
 
 	mark_next_object(object);
 
@@ -147,7 +150,8 @@ static void handle_object(const unsigned char *sha1)
 	show_progress();
 
 	object->flags |= SHOWN;
-	free(buf);
+	if (!eaten)
+		free(buf);
 }
 
 static int depth_first(const void *a_, const void *b_)
@@ -312,7 +316,7 @@ static void handle_commit(struct commit *commit, struct rev_info *rev)
 	/* Export the referenced blobs, and remember the marks. */
 	for (i = 0; i < diff_queued_diff.nr; i++)
 		if (!S_ISGITLINK(diff_queued_diff.queue[i]->two->mode))
-			handle_object(diff_queued_diff.queue[i]->two->sha1);
+			export_blob(diff_queued_diff.queue[i]->two->sha1);
 
 	mark_next_object(&commit->object);
 	if (!is_encoding_utf8(encoding))
@@ -512,7 +516,7 @@ static void get_tags_and_duplicates(struct rev_cmdline_info *info,
 				commit = (struct commit *)tag;
 				break;
 			case OBJ_BLOB:
-				handle_object(tag->object.sha1);
+				export_blob(tag->object.sha1);
 				continue;
 			default: /* OBJ_TAG (nested tags) is already handled */
 				warning("Tag points to object of unexpected type %s, skipping.",