diff --git a/builtin/merge-ours.c b/builtin/merge-ours.c
index 97b8a792c7..2312e58ab3 100644
--- a/builtin/merge-ours.c
+++ b/builtin/merge-ours.c
@@ -8,20 +8,17 @@
  * Pretend we resolved the heads, but declare our tree trumps everybody else.
  */
 
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "diff.h"
 
-
 static const char builtin_merge_ours_usage[] =
 	"git merge-ours <base>... -- HEAD <remote>...";
 
 int cmd_merge_ours(int argc,
 		   const char **argv,
 		   const char *prefix UNUSED,
-		   struct repository *repo UNUSED)
+		   struct repository *repo)
 {
 	show_usage_if_asked(argc, argv, builtin_merge_ours_usage);
 
@@ -30,9 +27,9 @@ int cmd_merge_ours(int argc,
 	 * commit.  The index must match HEAD, or this merge cannot go
 	 * through.
 	 */
-	if (repo_read_index(the_repository) < 0)
+	if (repo_read_index(repo) < 0)
 		die_errno("read_cache failed");
-	if (index_differs_from(the_repository, "HEAD", NULL, 0))
+	if (index_differs_from(repo, "HEAD", NULL, 0))
 		return 2;
 	return 0;
 }