diff --git a/Documentation/RelNotes-1.5.6.txt b/Documentation/RelNotes-1.5.6.txt
index b22bfa89a8..e143d8d61b 100644
--- a/Documentation/RelNotes-1.5.6.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RelNotes-1.5.6.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ Updates since v1.5.5
 * "git init" now autodetects the case sensitivity of the filesystem and
   sets core.ignorecase accordingly.
 
+* cpio is no longer used; neither "curl" binary (libcurl is still used).
+
 (documentation)
 
 * Many freestanding documentation pages have been converted and made
@@ -110,9 +112,4 @@ Fixes since v1.5.5
 All of the fixes in v1.5.5 maintenance series are included in
 this release, unless otherwise noted.
 
-
---
-exec >/var/tmp/1
-O=v1.5.6-rc3
-echo O=`git describe refs/heads/master`
-git shortlog --no-merges $O..refs/heads/master ^refs/heads/maint
+And there are too numerous small fixes to otherwise note here ;-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git.txt b/Documentation/git.txt
index ecda4792c6..4e4bd6ddb1 100644
--- a/Documentation/git.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git.txt
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master'
 branch of the `git.git` repository.
 Documentation for older releases are available here:
 
+* link:v1.5.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.6]
+
+* release notes for
+  link:RelNotes-1.5.6.txt[1.5.6],
+
 * link:v1.5.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.5]
 
 * release notes for
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-path-list.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-path-list.txt
index d077683171..9dbedd0a67 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-path-list.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-path-list.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,126 @@
 path-list API
 =============
 
-Talk about <path-list.h>, things like
+The path_list API offers a data structure and functions to handle sorted
+and unsorted string lists.
 
-* it is not just paths but strings in general;
-* the calling sequence.
+The name is a bit misleading, a path_list may store not only paths but
+strings in general.
 
-(Dscho)
+The caller:
+
+. Allocates and clears a `struct path_list` variable.
+
+. Initializes the members. You might want to set the flag `strdup_paths`
+  if the strings should be strdup()ed. For example, this is necessary
+  when you add something like git_path("..."), since that function returns
+  a static buffer that will change with the next call to git_path().
++
+If you need something advanced, you can manually malloc() the `items`
+member (you need this if you add things later) and you should set the
+`nr` and `alloc` members in that case, too.
+
+. Adds new items to the list, using `path_list_append` or `path_list_insert`.
+
+. Can check if a string is in the list using `path_list_has_path` or
+  `unsorted_path_list_has_path` and get it from the list using
+  `path_list_lookup` for sorted lists.
+
+. Can sort an unsorted list using `sort_path_list`.
+
+. Finally it should free the list using `path_list_clear`.
+
+Example:
+
+----
+struct path_list list;
+int i;
+
+memset(&list, 0, sizeof(struct path_list));
+path_list_append("foo", &list);
+path_list_append("bar", &list);
+for (i = 0; i < list.nr; i++)
+	printf("%s\n", list.items[i].path)
+----
+
+NOTE: It is more efficient to build an unsorted list and sort it
+afterwards, instead of building a sorted list (`O(n log n)` instead of
+`O(n^2)`).
++
+However, if you use the list to check if a certain string was added
+already, you should not do that (using unsorted_path_list_has_path()),
+because the complexity would be quadratic again (but with a worse factor).
+
+Functions
+---------
+
+* General ones (works with sorted and unsorted lists as well)
+
+`print_path_list`::
+
+	Dump a path_list to stdout, useful mainly for debugging purposes. It
+	can take an optional header argument and it writes out the
+	string-pointer pairs of the path_list, each one in its own line.
+
+`path_list_clear`::
+
+	Free a path_list. The `path` pointer of the items will be freed in case
+	the `strdup_paths` member of the path_list is set. The second parameter
+	controls if the `util` pointer of the items should be freed or not.
+
+* Functions for sorted lists only
+
+`path_list_has_path`::
+
+	Determine if the path_list has a given string or not.
+
+`path_list_insert`::
+
+	Insert a new element to the path_list. The returned pointer can be handy
+	if you want to write something to the `util` pointer of the
+	path_list_item containing the just added string.
++
+Since this function uses xrealloc() (which die()s if it fails) if the
+list needs to grow, it is safe not to check the pointer. I.e. you may
+write `path_list_insert(...)->util = ...;`.
+
+`path_list_lookup`::
+
+	Look up a given string in the path_list, returning the containing
+	path_list_item. If the string is not found, NULL is returned.
+
+* Functions for unsorted lists only
+
+`path_list_append`::
+
+	Append a new string to the end of the path_list.
+
+`sort_path_list`::
+
+	Make an unsorted list sorted.
+
+`unsorted_path_list_has_path`::
+
+	It's like `path_list_has_path()` but for unsorted lists.
++
+This function needs to look through all items, as opposed to its
+counterpart for sorted lists, which performs a binary search.
+
+Data structures
+---------------
+
+* `struct path_list_item`
+
+Represents an item of the list. The `path` member is a pointer to the
+string, and you may use the `util` member for any purpose, if you want.
+
+* `struct path_list`
+
+Represents the list itself.
+
+. The array of items are available via the `items` member.
+. The `nr` member contains the number of items stored in the list.
+. The `alloc` member is used to avoid reallocating at every insertion.
+  You should not tamper with it.
+. Setting the `strdup_paths` member to 1 will strdup() the strings
+  before adding them, see above.
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-run-command.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-run-command.txt
index c364a22c8f..3e1342acf4 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-run-command.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-run-command.txt
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ command to run in a sub-process.
 
 The caller:
 
-1. allocates and clears (memset(&chld, '0', sizeof(chld));) a
+1. allocates and clears (memset(&chld, 0, sizeof(chld));) a
    struct child_process variable;
 2. initializes the members;
 3. calls start_command();
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ to produce output that the caller reads.
 
 The caller:
 
-1. allocates and clears (memset(&asy, '0', sizeof(asy));) a
+1. allocates and clears (memset(&asy, 0, sizeof(asy));) a
    struct async variable;
 2. initializes .proc and .data;
 3. calls start_async();
diff --git a/GIT-VERSION-GEN b/GIT-VERSION-GEN
index 3cabc92e7a..f221447478 100755
--- a/GIT-VERSION-GEN
+++ b/GIT-VERSION-GEN
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 GVF=GIT-VERSION-FILE
-DEF_VER=v1.5.5.GIT
+DEF_VER=v1.5.6.GIT
 
 LF='
 '
diff --git a/builtin-rerere.c b/builtin-rerere.c
index 5c811423cc..85222d9bc5 100644
--- a/builtin-rerere.c
+++ b/builtin-rerere.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ static void read_rr(struct path_list *rr)
 			; /* do nothing */
 		if (i == sizeof(buf))
 			die("filename too long");
-		path_list_insert(buf, rr)->util = xstrdup(name);
+		path_list_insert(buf, rr)->util = name;
 	}
 	fclose(in);
 }
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index e3228dfa60..08f27f2316 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -696,8 +696,6 @@ extern struct ref **get_remote_heads(int in, struct ref **list, int nr_match, ch
 extern int server_supports(const char *feature);
 
 extern struct packed_git *parse_pack_index(unsigned char *sha1);
-extern struct packed_git *parse_pack_index_file(const unsigned char *sha1,
-						const char *idx_path);
 
 extern void prepare_packed_git(void);
 extern void reprepare_packed_git(void);
diff --git a/date.c b/date.c
index 9716836b9e..d6f8bf61c3 100644
--- a/date.c
+++ b/date.c
@@ -682,10 +682,8 @@ static void date_am(struct tm *tm, int *num)
 
 static void date_never(struct tm *tm, int *num)
 {
-	tm->tm_mon = tm->tm_wday = tm->tm_yday
-		= tm->tm_hour = tm->tm_min = tm->tm_sec = 0;
-	tm->tm_year = 70;
-	tm->tm_mday = 1;
+	time_t n = 0;
+	localtime_r(&n, tm);
 }
 
 static const struct special {
diff --git a/git-am.sh b/git-am.sh
index b48096ec20..2c517ede59 100755
--- a/git-am.sh
+++ b/git-am.sh
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ do
 	else
 	    action=yes
 	fi
-	FIRSTLINE=$(head -1 "$dotest/final-commit")
+	FIRSTLINE=$(sed 1q "$dotest/final-commit")
 
 	if test $action = skip
 	then
diff --git a/gitweb/gitweb.perl b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
index 4de964792f..49b01d8c25 100755
--- a/gitweb/gitweb.perl
+++ b/gitweb/gitweb.perl
@@ -1500,9 +1500,13 @@ sub git_cmd {
 	return $GIT, '--git-dir='.$git_dir;
 }
 
-# returns path to the core git executable and the --git-dir parameter as string
-sub git_cmd_str {
-	return join(' ', git_cmd());
+# quote the given arguments for passing them to the shell
+# quote_command("command", "arg 1", "arg with ' and ! characters")
+# => "'command' 'arg 1' 'arg with '\'' and '\!' characters'"
+# Try to avoid using this function wherever possible.
+sub quote_command {
+	return join(' ',
+		    map( { my $a = $_; $a =~ s/(['!])/'\\$1'/g; "'$a'" } @_ ));
 }
 
 # get HEAD ref of given project as hash
@@ -2158,49 +2162,6 @@ sub parse_commits {
 	return wantarray ? @cos : \@cos;
 }
 
-# parse ref from ref_file, given by ref_id, with given type
-sub parse_ref {
-	my $ref_file = shift;
-	my $ref_id = shift;
-	my $type = shift || git_get_type($ref_id);
-	my %ref_item;
-
-	$ref_item{'type'} = $type;
-	$ref_item{'id'} = $ref_id;
-	$ref_item{'epoch'} = 0;
-	$ref_item{'age'} = "unknown";
-	if ($type eq "tag") {
-		my %tag = parse_tag($ref_id);
-		$ref_item{'comment'} = $tag{'comment'};
-		if ($tag{'type'} eq "commit") {
-			my %co = parse_commit($tag{'object'});
-			$ref_item{'epoch'} = $co{'committer_epoch'};
-			$ref_item{'age'} = $co{'age_string'};
-		} elsif (defined($tag{'epoch'})) {
-			my $age = time - $tag{'epoch'};
-			$ref_item{'epoch'} = $tag{'epoch'};
-			$ref_item{'age'} = age_string($age);
-		}
-		$ref_item{'reftype'} = $tag{'type'};
-		$ref_item{'name'} = $tag{'name'};
-		$ref_item{'refid'} = $tag{'object'};
-	} elsif ($type eq "commit"){
-		my %co = parse_commit($ref_id);
-		$ref_item{'reftype'} = "commit";
-		$ref_item{'name'} = $ref_file;
-		$ref_item{'title'} = $co{'title'};
-		$ref_item{'refid'} = $ref_id;
-		$ref_item{'epoch'} = $co{'committer_epoch'};
-		$ref_item{'age'} = $co{'age_string'};
-	} else {
-		$ref_item{'reftype'} = $type;
-		$ref_item{'name'} = $ref_file;
-		$ref_item{'refid'} = $ref_id;
-	}
-
-	return %ref_item;
-}
-
 # parse line of git-diff-tree "raw" output
 sub parse_difftree_raw_line {
 	my $line = shift;
@@ -4633,7 +4594,6 @@ sub git_snapshot {
 		$hash = git_get_head_hash($project);
 	}
 
-	my $git_command = git_cmd_str();
 	my $name = $project;
 	$name =~ s,([^/])/*\.git$,$1,;
 	$name = basename($name);
@@ -4641,11 +4601,12 @@ sub git_snapshot {
 	$name =~ s/\047/\047\\\047\047/g;
 	my $cmd;
 	$filename .= "-$hash$known_snapshot_formats{$format}{'suffix'}";
-	$cmd = "$git_command archive " .
-		"--format=$known_snapshot_formats{$format}{'format'} " .
-		"--prefix=\'$name\'/ $hash";
+	$cmd = quote_command(
+		git_cmd(), 'archive',
+		"--format=$known_snapshot_formats{$format}{'format'}",
+		"--prefix=$name/", $hash);
 	if (exists $known_snapshot_formats{$format}{'compressor'}) {
-		$cmd .= ' | ' . join ' ', @{$known_snapshot_formats{$format}{'compressor'}};
+		$cmd .= ' | ' . quote_command(@{$known_snapshot_formats{$format}{'compressor'}});
 	}
 
 	print $cgi->header(
@@ -4858,8 +4819,8 @@ sub git_object {
 	if ($hash || ($hash_base && !defined $file_name)) {
 		my $object_id = $hash || $hash_base;
 
-		my $git_command = git_cmd_str();
-		open my $fd, "-|", "$git_command cat-file -t $object_id 2>/dev/null"
+		open my $fd, "-|", quote_command(
+			git_cmd(), 'cat-file', '-t', $object_id) . ' 2> /dev/null'
 			or die_error('404 Not Found', "Object does not exist");
 		$type = <$fd>;
 		chomp $type;
diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 91e3b112bb..ff2c802167 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -867,8 +867,7 @@ static char *guess_ref(const char *name, struct ref *peer)
 
 static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 			  struct ref ***dst_tail,
-			  struct refspec *rs,
-			  int errs)
+			  struct refspec *rs)
 {
 	struct ref *matched_src, *matched_dst;
 
@@ -876,7 +875,7 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 	char *dst_guess;
 
 	if (rs->pattern || rs->matching)
-		return errs;
+		return 0;
 
 	matched_src = matched_dst = NULL;
 	switch (count_refspec_match(rs->src, src, &matched_src)) {
@@ -889,23 +888,16 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 		 */
 		matched_src = try_explicit_object_name(rs->src);
 		if (!matched_src)
-			error("src refspec %s does not match any.", rs->src);
+			return error("src refspec %s does not match any.", rs->src);
 		break;
 	default:
-		matched_src = NULL;
-		error("src refspec %s matches more than one.", rs->src);
-		break;
+		return error("src refspec %s matches more than one.", rs->src);
 	}
 
-	if (!matched_src)
-		errs = 1;
-
 	if (!dst_value) {
 		unsigned char sha1[20];
 		int flag;
 
-		if (!matched_src)
-			return errs;
 		dst_value = resolve_ref(matched_src->name, sha1, 1, &flag);
 		if (!dst_value ||
 		    ((flag & REF_ISSYMREF) &&
@@ -936,18 +928,16 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 		      dst_value);
 		break;
 	}
-	if (errs || !matched_dst)
-		return 1;
-	if (matched_dst->peer_ref) {
-		errs = 1;
-		error("dst ref %s receives from more than one src.",
+	if (!matched_dst)
+		return -1;
+	if (matched_dst->peer_ref)
+		return error("dst ref %s receives from more than one src.",
 		      matched_dst->name);
-	}
 	else {
 		matched_dst->peer_ref = matched_src;
 		matched_dst->force = rs->force;
 	}
-	return errs;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int match_explicit_refs(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
@@ -956,8 +946,8 @@ static int match_explicit_refs(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
 {
 	int i, errs;
 	for (i = errs = 0; i < rs_nr; i++)
-		errs |= match_explicit(src, dst, dst_tail, &rs[i], errs);
-	return -errs;
+		errs += match_explicit(src, dst, dst_tail, &rs[i]);
+	return errs;
 }
 
 static const struct refspec *check_pattern_match(const struct refspec *rs,
diff --git a/sha1_file.c b/sha1_file.c
index 506210cffb..0a54eed761 100644
--- a/sha1_file.c
+++ b/sha1_file.c
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ int safe_create_leading_directories(char *path)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-char * sha1_to_hex(const unsigned char *sha1)
+char *sha1_to_hex(const unsigned char *sha1)
 {
 	static int bufno;
 	static char hexbuffer[4][50];
@@ -835,13 +835,7 @@ struct packed_git *add_packed_git(const char *path, int path_len, int local)
 
 struct packed_git *parse_pack_index(unsigned char *sha1)
 {
-	char *path = sha1_pack_index_name(sha1);
-	return parse_pack_index_file(sha1, path);
-}
-
-struct packed_git *parse_pack_index_file(const unsigned char *sha1,
-					 const char *idx_path)
-{
+	const char *idx_path = sha1_pack_index_name(sha1);
 	const char *path = sha1_pack_name(sha1);
 	struct packed_git *p = xmalloc(sizeof(*p) + strlen(path) + 2);
 
@@ -2129,7 +2123,7 @@ static int create_tmpfile(char *buffer, size_t bufsiz, const char *filename)
 	if (fd < 0 && dirlen) {
 		/* Make sure the directory exists */
 		buffer[dirlen-1] = 0;
-		if (mkdir(buffer, 0777) && adjust_shared_perm(buffer))
+		if (mkdir(buffer, 0777) || adjust_shared_perm(buffer))
 			return -1;
 
 		/* Try again */
@@ -2149,20 +2143,6 @@ static int write_loose_object(const unsigned char *sha1, char *hdr, int hdrlen,
 	static char tmpfile[PATH_MAX];
 
 	filename = sha1_file_name(sha1);
-	fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
-	if (fd >= 0) {
-		/*
-		 * FIXME!!! We might do collision checking here, but we'd
-		 * need to uncompress the old file and check it. Later.
-		 */
-		close(fd);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	if (errno != ENOENT) {
-		return error("sha1 file %s: %s\n", filename, strerror(errno));
-	}
-
 	fd = create_tmpfile(tmpfile, sizeof(tmpfile), filename);
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		if (errno == EPERM)
diff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
index 6946557c67..df7750f7d1 100755
--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh
+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ test_expect_success "clone and setup child repos" '
 		echo "Pull: refs/heads/one:refs/heads/one"
 	} >.git/remotes/two &&
 	cd .. &&
-	git clone . bundle
+	git clone . bundle &&
+	git clone . seven
 '
 
 test_expect_success "fetch test" '
@@ -295,4 +296,11 @@ test_expect_success 'configured fetch updates tracking' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'pushing nonexistent branch by mistake should not segv' '
+
+	cd "$D" &&
+	test_must_fail git push seven no:no
+
+'
+
 test_done