diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.junit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/junit/TestRepository.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.junit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/junit/TestRepository.java
index 96b616889..3c5827125 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.junit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/junit/TestRepository.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.junit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/junit/TestRepository.java
@@ -753,7 +753,8 @@ public class TestRepository<R extends Repository> {
 			if (parents.isEmpty()) {
 				DirCacheBuilder b = tree.builder();
 				parseBody(p);
-				b.addTree(new byte[0], DirCacheEntry.STAGE_0, db, p.getTree());
+				b.addTree(new byte[0], DirCacheEntry.STAGE_0, pool
+						.getObjectReader(), p.getTree());
 				b.finish();
 			}
 			parents.add(p);
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/dircache/DirCacheBuilder.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/dircache/DirCacheBuilder.java
index ab7513843..5665002dc 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/dircache/DirCacheBuilder.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/dircache/DirCacheBuilder.java
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 
 import org.eclipse.jgit.JGitText;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.AnyObjectId;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectReader;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.AbstractTreeIterator;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.treewalk.CanonicalTreeParser;
@@ -149,11 +148,12 @@ public class DirCacheBuilder extends BaseDirCacheEditor {
 	 *            as necessary.
 	 * @param stage
 	 *            stage of the entries when adding them.
-	 * @param db
-	 *            repository the tree(s) will be read from during recursive
+	 * @param reader
+	 *            reader the tree(s) will be read from during recursive
 	 *            traversal. This must be the same repository that the resulting
 	 *            DirCache would be written out to (or used in) otherwise the
 	 *            caller is simply asking for deferred MissingObjectExceptions.
+	 *            Caller is responsible for releasing this reader when done.
 	 * @param tree
 	 *            the tree to recursively add. This tree's contents will appear
 	 *            under <code>pathPrefix</code>. The ObjectId must be that of a
@@ -163,23 +163,18 @@ public class DirCacheBuilder extends BaseDirCacheEditor {
 	 *             a tree cannot be read to iterate through its entries.
 	 */
 	public void addTree(final byte[] pathPrefix, final int stage,
-			final Repository db, final AnyObjectId tree) throws IOException {
-		final ObjectReader reader = db.newObjectReader();
-		try {
-			final TreeWalk tw = new TreeWalk(reader);
-			tw.reset();
-			tw.addTree(new CanonicalTreeParser(pathPrefix, reader, tree
-					.toObjectId()));
-			tw.setRecursive(true);
-			if (tw.next()) {
-				final DirCacheEntry newEntry = toEntry(stage, tw);
-				beforeAdd(newEntry);
-				fastAdd(newEntry);
-				while (tw.next())
-					fastAdd(toEntry(stage, tw));
-			}
-		} finally {
-			reader.release();
+			final ObjectReader reader, final AnyObjectId tree) throws IOException {
+		final TreeWalk tw = new TreeWalk(reader);
+		tw.reset();
+		tw.addTree(new CanonicalTreeParser(pathPrefix, reader, tree
+				.toObjectId()));
+		tw.setRecursive(true);
+		if (tw.next()) {
+			final DirCacheEntry newEntry = toEntry(stage, tw);
+			beforeAdd(newEntry);
+			fastAdd(newEntry);
+			while (tw.next())
+				fastAdd(toEntry(stage, tw));
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/StrategySimpleTwoWayInCore.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/StrategySimpleTwoWayInCore.java
index 86ba72474..29342a730 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/StrategySimpleTwoWayInCore.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/merge/StrategySimpleTwoWayInCore.java
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ public class StrategySimpleTwoWayInCore extends ThreeWayMergeStrategy {
 			final AbstractTreeIterator i = getTree(tree);
 			if (i != null) {
 				if (FileMode.TREE.equals(tw.getRawMode(tree))) {
-					builder.addTree(tw.getRawPath(), stage, db, tw
+					builder.addTree(tw.getRawPath(), stage, reader, tw
 							.getObjectId(tree));
 				} else {
 					final DirCacheEntry e;