diff --git a/attr.c b/attr.c
index 33cb4e4d113cbb..76b079f0f530e1 100644
--- a/attr.c
+++ b/attr.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "exec_cmd.h"
 #include "attr.h"
+#include "dir.h"
 
 const char git_attr__true[] = "(builtin)true";
 const char git_attr__false[] = "\0(builtin)false";
@@ -20,8 +21,6 @@ static const char git_attr__unknown[] = "(builtin)unknown";
 #define ATTR__UNSET NULL
 #define ATTR__UNKNOWN git_attr__unknown
 
-static const char *attributes_file;
-
 /* This is a randomly chosen prime. */
 #define HASHSIZE 257
 
@@ -494,14 +493,6 @@ static int git_attr_system(void)
 	return !git_env_bool("GIT_ATTR_NOSYSTEM", 0);
 }
 
-static int git_attr_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *dummy)
-{
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.attributesfile"))
-		return git_config_pathname(&attributes_file, var, value);
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static void bootstrap_attr_stack(void)
 {
 	if (!attr_stack) {
@@ -521,9 +512,8 @@ static void bootstrap_attr_stack(void)
 			}
 		}
 
-		git_config(git_attr_config, NULL);
-		if (attributes_file) {
-			elem = read_attr_from_file(attributes_file, 1);
+		if (git_attributes_file) {
+			elem = read_attr_from_file(git_attributes_file, 1);
 			if (elem) {
 				elem->origin = NULL;
 				elem->prev = attr_stack;
@@ -533,7 +523,7 @@ static void bootstrap_attr_stack(void)
 
 		if (!is_bare_repository() || direction == GIT_ATTR_INDEX) {
 			elem = read_attr(GITATTRIBUTES_FILE, 1);
-			elem->origin = strdup("");
+			elem->origin = xstrdup("");
 			elem->prev = attr_stack;
 			attr_stack = elem;
 			debug_push(elem);
@@ -552,7 +542,6 @@ static void prepare_attr_stack(const char *path)
 {
 	struct attr_stack *elem, *info;
 	int dirlen, len;
-	struct strbuf pathbuf;
 	const char *cp;
 
 	cp = strrchr(path, '/');
@@ -561,8 +550,6 @@ static void prepare_attr_stack(const char *path)
 	else
 		dirlen = cp - path;
 
-	strbuf_init(&pathbuf, dirlen+2+strlen(GITATTRIBUTES_FILE));
-
 	/*
 	 * At the bottom of the attribute stack is the built-in
 	 * set of attribute definitions, followed by the contents
@@ -607,27 +594,28 @@ static void prepare_attr_stack(const char *path)
 	 * Read from parent directories and push them down
 	 */
 	if (!is_bare_repository() || direction == GIT_ATTR_INDEX) {
-		while (1) {
-			char *cp;
+		struct strbuf pathbuf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
+		while (1) {
 			len = strlen(attr_stack->origin);
 			if (dirlen <= len)
 				break;
-			strbuf_reset(&pathbuf);
-			strbuf_add(&pathbuf, path, dirlen);
+			cp = memchr(path + len + 1, '/', dirlen - len - 1);
+			if (!cp)
+				cp = path + dirlen;
+			strbuf_add(&pathbuf, path, cp - path);
 			strbuf_addch(&pathbuf, '/');
-			cp = strchr(pathbuf.buf + len + 1, '/');
-			strcpy(cp + 1, GITATTRIBUTES_FILE);
+			strbuf_addstr(&pathbuf, GITATTRIBUTES_FILE);
 			elem = read_attr(pathbuf.buf, 0);
-			*cp = '\0';
-			elem->origin = strdup(pathbuf.buf);
+			strbuf_setlen(&pathbuf, cp - path);
+			elem->origin = strbuf_detach(&pathbuf, NULL);
 			elem->prev = attr_stack;
 			attr_stack = elem;
 			debug_push(elem);
 		}
-	}
 
-	strbuf_release(&pathbuf);
+		strbuf_release(&pathbuf);
+	}
 
 	/*
 	 * Finally push the "info" one at the top of the stack.
@@ -644,7 +632,7 @@ static int path_matches(const char *pathname, int pathlen,
 		/* match basename */
 		const char *basename = strrchr(pathname, '/');
 		basename = basename ? basename + 1 : pathname;
-		return (fnmatch(pattern, basename, 0) == 0);
+		return (fnmatch_icase(pattern, basename, 0) == 0);
 	}
 	/*
 	 * match with FNM_PATHNAME; the pattern has base implicitly
@@ -658,7 +646,7 @@ static int path_matches(const char *pathname, int pathlen,
 		return 0;
 	if (baselen != 0)
 		baselen++;
-	return fnmatch(pattern, pathname + baselen, FNM_PATHNAME) == 0;
+	return fnmatch_icase(pattern, pathname + baselen, FNM_PATHNAME) == 0;
 }
 
 static int macroexpand_one(int attr_nr, int rem);
diff --git a/builtin/check-attr.c b/builtin/check-attr.c
index 708988a0e1a318..abb11650fdd936 100644
--- a/builtin/check-attr.c
+++ b/builtin/check-attr.c
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ int cmd_check_attr(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct git_attr_check *check;
 	int cnt, i, doubledash, filei;
 
+	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, check_attr_options,
 			     check_attr_usage, PARSE_OPT_KEEP_DASHDASH);
 
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 40f33ca4d0e6d0..5efe6c5760c43d 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ static const char **copy_pathspec(const char *prefix, const char **pathspec,
 			to_copy--;
 		if (to_copy != length || base_name) {
 			char *it = xmemdupz(result[i], to_copy);
-			result[i] = base_name ? strdup(basename(it)) : it;
+			if (base_name) {
+				result[i] = xstrdup(basename(it));
+				free(it);
+			} else
+				result[i] = it;
 		}
 	}
 	return get_pathspec(prefix, result);
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 607c2ea612889c..8d95fb25a2505a 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ extern int warn_ambiguous_refs;
 extern int shared_repository;
 extern const char *apply_default_whitespace;
 extern const char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
+extern const char *git_attributes_file;
 extern int zlib_compression_level;
 extern int core_compression_level;
 extern int core_compression_seen;
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 6ef0cc4f99becd..8947418ce78faa 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -1183,7 +1183,7 @@ static int WSAAPI getaddrinfo_stub(const char *node, const char *service,
 	}
 	ai->ai_addrlen = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in);
 	if (hints && (hints->ai_flags & AI_CANONNAME))
-		ai->ai_canonname = h ? strdup(h->h_name) : NULL;
+		ai->ai_canonname = h ? xstrdup(h->h_name) : NULL;
 	else
 		ai->ai_canonname = NULL;
 
diff --git a/compat/qsort.c b/compat/qsort.c
index d93dce2cf8fa33..9574d537bd38d3 100644
--- a/compat/qsort.c
+++ b/compat/qsort.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ void git_qsort(void *b, size_t n, size_t s,
 		msort_with_tmp(b, n, s, cmp, buf);
 	} else {
 		/* It's somewhat large, so malloc it.  */
-		char *tmp = malloc(size);
+		char *tmp = xmalloc(size);
 		msort_with_tmp(b, n, s, cmp, tmp);
 		free(tmp);
 	}
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 4183f80262ea9f..d3bcaa023d1f23 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -491,6 +491,9 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (!strcmp(var, "core.attributesfile"))
+		return git_config_pathname(&git_attributes_file, var, value);
+
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.bare")) {
 		is_bare_repository_cfg = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index e96edcfebc4174..d60b73f6a5a886 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ const char *git_log_output_encoding;
 int shared_repository = PERM_UMASK;
 const char *apply_default_whitespace;
 const char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
+const char *git_attributes_file;
 int zlib_compression_level = Z_BEST_SPEED;
 int core_compression_level;
 int core_compression_seen;
diff --git a/show-index.c b/show-index.c
index 4c0ac138aff7b5..63f9da53237d42 100644
--- a/show-index.c
+++ b/show-index.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			unsigned char sha1[20];
 			uint32_t crc;
 			uint32_t off;
-		} *entries = malloc(nr * sizeof(entries[0]));
+		} *entries = xmalloc(nr * sizeof(entries[0]));
 		for (i = 0; i < nr; i++)
 			if (fread(entries[i].sha1, 20, 1, stdin) != 1)
 				die("unable to read sha1 %u/%u", i, nr);
diff --git a/t/t0003-attributes.sh b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
index ae2f1da28fa55b..6946c4b82f9291 100755
--- a/t/t0003-attributes.sh
+++ b/t/t0003-attributes.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ attr_check () {
 	path="$1"
 	expect="$2"
 
-	git check-attr test -- "$path" >actual 2>err &&
+	git $3 check-attr test -- "$path" >actual 2>err &&
 	echo "$path: test: $2" >expect &&
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
 	test_line_count = 0 err
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' '
 		echo "onoff test -test"
 		echo "offon -test test"
 		echo "no notest"
+		echo "A/e/F test=A/e/F"
 	) >.gitattributes &&
 	(
 		echo "g test=a/g" &&
@@ -93,6 +94,62 @@ test_expect_success 'attribute test' '
 
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'attribute matching is case sensitive when core.ignorecase=0' '
+
+	test_must_fail attr_check F f "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/F f "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/c/F f "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/G a/g "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/B/g a/b/g "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/b/G a/b/g "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/b/H a/b/h "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/b/D/g "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check oNoFf unset "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check oFfOn set "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	attr_check NO unspecified "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/b/D/NO "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	attr_check a/b/d/YES a/b/d/* "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/E/f "A/e/F" "-c core.ignorecase=0"
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'attribute matching is case insensitive when core.ignorecase=1' '
+
+	attr_check F f "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/F f "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/c/F f "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/G a/g "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/B/g a/b/g "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/b/G a/b/g "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/b/H a/b/h "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/b/D/g "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check oNoFf unset "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check oFfOn set "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check NO unspecified "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/b/D/NO "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/b/d/YES unspecified "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/E/f "A/e/F" "-c core.ignorecase=1"
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'check whether FS is case-insensitive' '
+	mkdir junk &&
+	echo good >junk/CamelCase &&
+	echo bad >junk/camelcase &&
+	if test "$(cat junk/CamelCase)" != good
+	then
+		test_set_prereq CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS
+	fi
+'
+
+test_expect_success CASE_INSENSITIVE_FS 'additional case insensitivity tests' '
+	test_must_fail attr_check a/B/D/g "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	test_must_fail attr_check A/B/D/NO "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=0" &&
+	attr_check A/b/h a/b/h "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check a/B/D/g "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=1" &&
+	attr_check A/B/D/NO "a/b/d/*" "-c core.ignorecase=1"
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'unnormalized paths' '
 
 	attr_check ./f f &&
diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index 4eab844d4abfa2..07131261fefeab 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ static struct child_process *get_helper(struct transport *transport)
 			ALLOC_GROW(refspecs,
 				   refspec_nr + 1,
 				   refspec_alloc);
-			refspecs[refspec_nr++] = strdup(capname + strlen("refspec "));
+			refspecs[refspec_nr++] = xstrdup(capname + strlen("refspec "));
 		} else if (!strcmp(capname, "connect")) {
 			data->connect = 1;
 		} else if (!prefixcmp(capname, "export-marks ")) {
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ static int fetch_with_import(struct transport *transport,
 		if (data->refspecs)
 			private = apply_refspecs(data->refspecs, data->refspec_nr, posn->name);
 		else
-			private = strdup(posn->name);
+			private = xstrdup(posn->name);
 		read_ref(private, posn->old_sha1);
 		free(private);
 	}