diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index e9772eb3a3..026d3a1d71 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ out:
 	return should_gc;
 }
 
-static int too_many_loose_objects(struct gc_config *cfg)
+static int too_many_loose_objects(int limit)
 {
 	/*
 	 * Quickly check if a "gc" is needed, by estimating how
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ static int too_many_loose_objects(struct gc_config *cfg)
 	if (!dir)
 		return 0;
 
-	auto_threshold = DIV_ROUND_UP(cfg->gc_auto_threshold, 256);
+	auto_threshold = DIV_ROUND_UP(limit, 256);
 	while ((ent = readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
 		if (strspn(ent->d_name, "0123456789abcdef") != hexsz_loose ||
 		    ent->d_name[hexsz_loose] != '\0')
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ static int need_to_gc(struct gc_config *cfg, struct strvec *repack_args)
 
 		add_repack_all_option(cfg, &keep_pack, repack_args);
 		string_list_clear(&keep_pack, 0);
-	} else if (too_many_loose_objects(cfg))
+	} else if (too_many_loose_objects(cfg->gc_auto_threshold))
 		add_repack_incremental_option(repack_args);
 	else
 		return 0;
@@ -1057,7 +1057,7 @@ int cmd_gc(int argc,
 					     !opts.quiet && !daemonized ? COMMIT_GRAPH_WRITE_PROGRESS : 0,
 					     NULL);
 
-	if (opts.auto_flag && too_many_loose_objects(&cfg))
+	if (opts.auto_flag && too_many_loose_objects(cfg.gc_auto_threshold))
 		warning(_("There are too many unreachable loose objects; "
 			"run 'git prune' to remove them."));