diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index b49b582..5cebe17 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -526,6 +526,7 @@ static int merge_working_tree(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 		init_tree_desc(&trees[1], tree->buffer, tree->size);
 
 		ret = unpack_trees(2, trees, &topts);
+		clear_unpack_trees_porcelain(&topts);
 		if (ret == -1) {
 			/*
 			 * Unpack couldn't do a trivial merge; either