diff --git a/tree-walk.c b/tree-walk.c
index 29ead71be1..ad49d55290 100644
--- a/tree-walk.c
+++ b/tree-walk.c
@@ -442,9 +442,9 @@ int traverse_trees(struct index_state *istate,
 		   struct traverse_info *info)
 {
 	int error = 0;
-	struct name_entry entry[MAX_TRAVERSE_TREES];
+	struct name_entry *entry;
 	int i;
-	struct tree_desc_x tx[ARRAY_SIZE(entry)];
+	struct tree_desc_x *tx;
 	struct strbuf base = STRBUF_INIT;
 	int interesting = 1;
 	char *traverse_path;
@@ -455,8 +455,8 @@ int traverse_trees(struct index_state *istate,
 	if (traverse_trees_cur_depth > traverse_trees_max_depth)
 		traverse_trees_max_depth = traverse_trees_cur_depth;
 
-	if (n >= ARRAY_SIZE(entry))
-		BUG("traverse_trees() called with too many trees (%d)", n);
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(entry, n);
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(tx, n);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
 		tx[i].d = t[i];
@@ -551,6 +551,8 @@ int traverse_trees(struct index_state *istate,
 	}
 	for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
 		free_extended_entry(tx + i);
+	free(tx);
+	free(entry);
 	free(traverse_path);
 	info->traverse_path = NULL;
 	strbuf_release(&base);
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 87517364dc..a203f9a3d7 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -864,8 +864,8 @@ static int traverse_trees_recursive(int n, unsigned long dirmask,
 	struct unpack_trees_options *o = info->data;
 	int i, ret, bottom;
 	int nr_buf = 0;
-	struct tree_desc t[MAX_UNPACK_TREES];
-	void *buf[MAX_UNPACK_TREES];
+	struct tree_desc *t;
+	void **buf;
 	struct traverse_info newinfo;
 	struct name_entry *p;
 	int nr_entries;
@@ -902,6 +902,9 @@ static int traverse_trees_recursive(int n, unsigned long dirmask,
 	newinfo.pathlen = st_add3(newinfo.pathlen, tree_entry_len(p), 1);
 	newinfo.df_conflicts |= df_conflicts;
 
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(t, n);
+	ALLOC_ARRAY(buf, n);
+
 	/*
 	 * Fetch the tree from the ODB for each peer directory in the
 	 * n commits.
@@ -937,6 +940,8 @@ static int traverse_trees_recursive(int n, unsigned long dirmask,
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_buf; i++)
 		free(buf[i]);
+	free(buf);
+	free(t);
 
 	return ret;
 }