diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index 56be5e1726..5cd38b2a16 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -741,18 +741,18 @@ int calc_shared_perm(struct repository *repo,
 		     int mode)
 {
 	int tweak;
-
-	if (repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo) < 0)
-		tweak = -repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo);
+	int shared_repo = repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo);
+	if (shared_repo < 0)
+		tweak = -shared_repo;
 	else
-		tweak = repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo);
+		tweak = shared_repo;
 
 	if (!(mode & S_IWUSR))
 		tweak &= ~0222;
 	if (mode & S_IXUSR)
 		/* Copy read bits to execute bits */
 		tweak |= (tweak & 0444) >> 2;
-	if (repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo) < 0)
+	if (shared_repo < 0)
 		mode = (mode & ~0777) | tweak;
 	else
 		mode |= tweak;