diff --git a/commit.c b/commit.c
index 0737915d20..754d1b8a0b 100644
--- a/commit.c
+++ b/commit.c
@@ -1263,10 +1263,25 @@ static struct commit *interesting(struct commit_list *list)
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-static struct commit_list *base_traverse(struct commit_list *list, struct commit *stop)
+static struct commit_list *merge_bases(struct commit *one, struct commit *two)
 {
+	struct commit_list *list = NULL;
 	struct commit_list *result = NULL;
 
+	if (one == two)
+		/* We do not mark this even with RESULT so we do not
+		 * have to clean it up.
+		 */
+		return commit_list_insert(one, &result);
+
+	parse_commit(one);
+	parse_commit(two);
+
+	one->object.flags |= PARENT1;
+	two->object.flags |= PARENT2;
+	insert_by_date(one, &list);
+	insert_by_date(two, &list);
+
 	while (interesting(list)) {
 		struct commit *commit;
 		struct commit_list *parents;
@@ -1297,20 +1312,10 @@ static struct commit_list *base_traverse(struct commit_list *list, struct commit
 			p->object.flags |= flags;
 			insert_by_date(p, &list);
 		}
-		if (stop && (stop->object.flags & PARENT2)) {
-			free_commit_list(list);
-			list = NULL;
-			insert_by_date(stop, &list);
-			return list;
-		}
 	}
 
 	/* Clean up the result to remove stale ones */
 	free_commit_list(list);
-
-	if (stop)
-		return NULL;
-
 	list = result; result = NULL;
 	while (list) {
 		struct commit_list *n = list->next;
@@ -1322,27 +1327,6 @@ static struct commit_list *base_traverse(struct commit_list *list, struct commit
 	return result;
 }
 
-static struct commit_list *merge_bases(struct commit *one, struct commit *two)
-{
-	struct commit_list *list = NULL;
-
-	if (one == two)
-		/* We do not mark this even with RESULT so we do not
-		 * have to clean it up.
-		 */
-		return commit_list_insert(one, &list);
-
-	parse_commit(one);
-	parse_commit(two);
-
-	one->object.flags |= PARENT1;
-	two->object.flags |= PARENT2;
-	insert_by_date(one, &list);
-	insert_by_date(two, &list);
-
-	return base_traverse(list, NULL);
-}
-
 struct commit_list *get_merge_bases(struct commit *one,
 				    struct commit *two,
                                     int cleanup)
@@ -1405,30 +1389,20 @@ struct commit_list *get_merge_bases(struct commit *one,
 
 int in_merge_bases(struct commit *commit, struct commit **reference, int num)
 {
-	struct commit_list *result, *list;
-	int i, ret;
+	struct commit_list *bases, *b;
+	int ret = 0;
 
-	list = NULL;
-	parse_commit(commit);
-	commit->object.flags |= PARENT1;
-	insert_by_date(commit, &list);
-
-	for (i = 0; i < num; i++) {
-		struct commit *two = reference[i];
-		parse_commit(two);
-		if (!(two->object.flags & PARENT2)) {
-			two->object.flags |= PARENT2;
-			insert_by_date(two, &list);
+	if (num == 1)
+		bases = get_merge_bases(commit, *reference, 1);
+	else
+		die("not yet");
+	for (b = bases; b; b = b->next) {
+		if (!hashcmp(commit->object.sha1, b->item->object.sha1)) {
+			ret = 1;
+			break;
 		}
 	}
-	result = base_traverse(list, commit);
-	ret = !!result;
-	free_commit_list(result);
 
-	clear_commit_marks(commit, all_flags);
-	for (i = 0; i < num; i++) {
-		struct commit *two = reference[i];
-		clear_commit_marks(two, all_flags);
-	}
+	free_commit_list(bases);
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/git-checkout.sh b/git-checkout.sh
index 9cdeaa445a..a7390e808c 100755
--- a/git-checkout.sh
+++ b/git-checkout.sh
@@ -207,9 +207,6 @@ else
 		exit 1 ;;
 	esac
 
-	# First stash away the local changes
-	git diff-index --binary -p HEAD >"$GIT_DIR"/LOCAL_DIFF
-
 	# Match the index to the working tree, and do a three-way.
     	git diff-files --name-only | git update-index --remove --stdin &&
 	work=`git write-tree` &&
@@ -234,10 +231,6 @@ else
 			sed -e 's/^[0-7]* [0-9a-f]* /'"0 $z40 /"
 			echo "$unmerged"
 		) | git update-index --index-info
-
-		echo >&2 "Conflicts in locally modified files:"
-		git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U >&2
-		echo >&2 "Your local changes are found in $GIT_DIR/LOCAL_DIFF"
 		;;
 	esac
 	exit 0
diff --git a/git-merge.sh b/git-merge.sh
index 5c62a06a50..fa4589173f 100755
--- a/git-merge.sh
+++ b/git-merge.sh
@@ -97,51 +97,6 @@ finish () {
 	esac
 }
 
-merge_local_changes () {
-	merge_error=$(git-read-tree -m -u --exclude-per-directory=.gitignore $1 $2 2>&1) || (
-
-		# First stash away the local changes
-		git diff-index --binary -p HEAD >"$GIT_DIR"/LOCAL_DIFF
-
-		# Match the index to the working tree, and do a three-way.
-		git diff-files --name-only |
-		git update-index --remove --stdin &&
-		work=`git write-tree` &&
-		git read-tree --reset -u $2 &&
-		git read-tree -m -u --aggressive --exclude-per-directory=.gitignore $1 $2 $work || exit
-
-		echo >&2 "Carrying local changes forward."
-		if result=`git write-tree 2>/dev/null`
-		then
-			echo >&2 "Trivially automerged."
-		else
-			git merge-index -o git-merge-one-file -a
-		fi
-
-		# Do not register the cleanly merged paths in the index
-		# yet; this is not a real merge before committing, but
-		# just carrying the working tree changes along.
-		unmerged=`git ls-files -u`
-		git read-tree --reset $2
-		case "$unmerged" in
-		'')	;;
-		*)
-			(
-				z40=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
-				echo "$unmerged" |
-				sed -e 's/^[0-7]* [0-9a-f]* /'"0 $z40 /"
-				echo "$unmerged"
-			) | git update-index --index-info
-
-			echo >&2 "Conflicts in locally modified files:"
-			git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U >&2
-			echo >&2 "Your local changes are found in $GIT_DIR/LOCAL_DIFF"
-			;;
-		esac
-		exit 0
-	)
-}
-
 merge_name () {
 	remote="$1"
 	rh=$(git-rev-parse --verify "$remote^0" 2>/dev/null) || return
@@ -347,7 +302,7 @@ f,*)
 		msg="$msg (no commit created; -m option ignored)"
 	fi
 	new_head=$(git-rev-parse --verify "$1^0") &&
-	merge_local_changes $head $new_head &&
+	git-read-tree -v -m -u --exclude-per-directory=.gitignore $head "$new_head" &&
 	finish "$new_head" "$msg" || exit
 	dropsave
 	exit 0