diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index b4e000e9c2..abbf155da9 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ int parse_commit(struct commit *item)
 			     sha1_to_hex(item->object.sha1));
 	}
 	ret = parse_commit_buffer(item, buffer, size);
+	if (!ret) {
+		item->buffer = buffer;
+		return 0;
+	}
 	free(buffer);
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/commit.h b/commit.h
index 620e936bbc..0bb8779ca7 100644
--- a/commit.h
+++ b/commit.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ struct commit {
 	unsigned long date;
 	struct commit_list *parents;
 	struct tree *tree;
+	const char *buffer;
 };
 
 extern const char *commit_type;