diff --git a/builtin-rev-parse.c b/builtin-rev-parse.c
index d1038a0e66edf728fbba9476b3b9f443647c612c..20d1789e0161ed3d2d18cec94b1915f518a5d662 100644
--- a/builtin-rev-parse.c
+++ b/builtin-rev-parse.c
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ static int cmd_parseopt(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	                     keep_dashdash ? PARSE_OPT_KEEP_DASHDASH : 0);
 
 	strbuf_addf(&parsed, " --");
-	sq_quote_argv(&parsed, argv, argc, 0);
+	sq_quote_argv(&parsed, argv, 0);
 	puts(parsed.buf);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index d0e7a71c6e61e56c841f9670266a2e5d61211158..ed8be062990410875b6a1a4cf8663bd5b8a69879 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ extern void alloc_report(void);
 
 /* trace.c */
 extern void trace_printf(const char *format, ...);
-extern void trace_argv_printf(const char **argv, int count, const char *format, ...);
+extern void trace_argv_printf(const char **argv, const char *format, ...);
 
 /* convert.c */
 /* returns 1 if *dst was used */
diff --git a/exec_cmd.c b/exec_cmd.c
index 2d0a75851284392aa8ae44bc486df6a034d0af13..e189caca629262334541ea8313d2931b06e67adf 100644
--- a/exec_cmd.c
+++ b/exec_cmd.c
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ int execv_git_cmd(const char **argv)
 	tmp = argv[0];
 	argv[0] = cmd.buf;
 
-	trace_argv_printf(argv, -1, "trace: exec:");
+	trace_argv_printf(argv, "trace: exec:");
 
 	/* execvp() can only ever return if it fails */
 	execvp(cmd.buf, (char **)argv);
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index f510fe37069a5b11dfef445f862da9f52337d172..c4877a9714c227a1af77cfa84caa2230eb30bf9d 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static int handle_alias(int *argcp, const char ***argv)
 
 				strbuf_init(&buf, PATH_MAX);
 				strbuf_addstr(&buf, alias_string);
-				sq_quote_argv(&buf, (*argv) + 1, *argcp - 1, PATH_MAX);
+				sq_quote_argv(&buf, (*argv) + 1, PATH_MAX);
 				free(alias_string);
 				alias_string = buf.buf;
 			}
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ static int handle_alias(int *argcp, const char ***argv)
 		if (!strcmp(alias_command, new_argv[0]))
 			die("recursive alias: %s", alias_command);
 
-		trace_argv_printf(new_argv, count,
+		trace_argv_printf(new_argv,
 				  "trace: alias expansion: %s =>",
 				  alias_command);
 
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ static int run_command(struct cmd_struct *p, int argc, const char **argv)
 	if (p->option & NEED_WORK_TREE)
 		setup_work_tree();
 
-	trace_argv_printf(argv, argc, "trace: built-in: git");
+	trace_argv_printf(argv, "trace: built-in: git");
 
 	status = p->fn(argc, argv, prefix);
 	if (status)
diff --git a/quote.c b/quote.c
index 04557833a561b4613a511af8fb9f0fb18b36b2fa..6986b4420f66e1f01cd4517d35ce9adc300eaa8b 100644
--- a/quote.c
+++ b/quote.c
@@ -56,20 +56,13 @@ void sq_quote_print(FILE *stream, const char *src)
 	fputc('\'', stream);
 }
 
-void sq_quote_argv(struct strbuf *dst, const char** argv, int count,
-                   size_t maxlen)
+void sq_quote_argv(struct strbuf *dst, const char** argv, size_t maxlen)
 {
 	int i;
 
-	/* Count argv if needed. */
-	if (count < 0) {
-		for (count = 0; argv[count]; count++)
-			; /* just counting */
-	}
-
 	/* Copy into destination buffer. */
-	strbuf_grow(dst, 32 * count);
-	for (i = 0; i < count; ++i) {
+	strbuf_grow(dst, 255);
+	for (i = 0; argv[i]; ++i) {
 		strbuf_addch(dst, ' ');
 		sq_quote_buf(dst, argv[i]);
 		if (maxlen && dst->len > maxlen)
diff --git a/quote.h b/quote.h
index 42879909983679f31b9ac6d7e5bfc330d8167a91..ab7596f57b7f23899ef1bbb8d0c7ba6ec5baf12f 100644
--- a/quote.h
+++ b/quote.h
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@
 extern void sq_quote_print(FILE *stream, const char *src);
 
 extern void sq_quote_buf(struct strbuf *, const char *src);
-extern void sq_quote_argv(struct strbuf *, const char **argv, int count,
-                          size_t maxlen);
+extern void sq_quote_argv(struct strbuf *, const char **argv, size_t maxlen);
 
 /* This unwraps what sq_quote() produces in place, but returns
  * NULL if the input does not look like what sq_quote would have
diff --git a/trace.c b/trace.c
index d3d1b6d55e86aab94ddb9712f5eee743b3bfa9a8..4713f9165c54405d51e81c3e90847120ee907e5d 100644
--- a/trace.c
+++ b/trace.c
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ void trace_printf(const char *fmt, ...)
 		close(fd);
 }
 
-void trace_argv_printf(const char **argv, int count, const char *fmt, ...)
+void trace_argv_printf(const char **argv, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	struct strbuf buf;
 	va_list ap;
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ void trace_argv_printf(const char **argv, int count, const char *fmt, ...)
 	}
 	strbuf_setlen(&buf, len);
 
-	sq_quote_argv(&buf, argv, count, 0);
+	sq_quote_argv(&buf, argv, 0);
 	strbuf_addch(&buf, '\n');
 	write_or_whine_pipe(fd, buf.buf, buf.len, err_msg);
 	strbuf_release(&buf);