diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 1b82b156452e3b..c5e96158d0cb2a 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -2172,7 +2172,9 @@ static int ce_write_entry(git_SHA_CTX *c, int fd, struct cache_entry *ce,
 		if (!result)
 			result = ce_write(c, fd, to_remove_vi, prefix_size);
 		if (!result)
-			result = ce_write(c, fd, ce->name + common, ce_namelen(ce) - common + 1);
+			result = ce_write(c, fd, ce->name + common, ce_namelen(ce) - common);
+		if (!result)
+			result = ce_write(c, fd, padding, 1);
 
 		strbuf_splice(previous_name, common, to_remove,
 			      ce->name + common, ce_namelen(ce) - common);