diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index c3197970219..52deb36594a 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -4225,6 +4225,7 @@ void merge_switch_to_result(struct merge_options *opt,
 		if (checkout(opt, head, result->tree)) {
 			/* failure to function */
 			result->clean = -1;
+			merge_finalize(opt, result);
 			return;
 		}
 		trace2_region_leave("merge", "checkout", opt->repo);
@@ -4235,6 +4236,7 @@ void merge_switch_to_result(struct merge_options *opt,
 			/* failure to function */
 			opt->priv = NULL;
 			result->clean = -1;
+			merge_finalize(opt, result);
 			return;
 		}
 		opt->priv = NULL;