diff --git a/bundle-uri.c b/bundle-uri.c
index e2b267cc02..f22490a2ca 100644
--- a/bundle-uri.c
+++ b/bundle-uri.c
@@ -795,10 +795,10 @@ int fetch_bundle_uri(struct repository *r, const char *uri,
 	init_bundle_list(&list);
 
 	/*
-	 * Do not fetch a NULL or empty bundle URI. An empty bundle URI
+	 * Do not fetch an empty bundle URI. An empty bundle URI
 	 * could signal that a configured bundle URI has been disabled.
 	 */
-	if (!uri || !*uri) {
+	if (!*uri) {
 		result = 0;
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 02f1aa39ae..ce32d96ae5 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -1020,13 +1020,13 @@ void init_notes(struct notes_tree *t, const char *notes_ref,
 	t->root = (struct int_node *) xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct int_node));
 	t->first_non_note = NULL;
 	t->prev_non_note = NULL;
-	t->ref = xstrdup_or_null(notes_ref);
+	t->ref = xstrdup(notes_ref);
 	t->update_ref = (flags & NOTES_INIT_WRITABLE) ? t->ref : NULL;
 	t->combine_notes = combine_notes;
 	t->initialized = 1;
 	t->dirty = 0;
 
-	if (flags & NOTES_INIT_EMPTY || !notes_ref ||
+	if (flags & NOTES_INIT_EMPTY ||
 	    repo_get_oid_treeish(the_repository, notes_ref, &object_oid))
 		return;
 	if (flags & NOTES_INIT_WRITABLE && read_ref(notes_ref, &object_oid))