diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 4e91a253ac3..5a317cdd2f4 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -587,10 +587,10 @@ static int grep_tree(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 
 		strbuf_add(base, entry.path, te_len);
 
-		if (S_ISREG(entry.mode)) {
+		if (entry.object_type == OBJ_BLOB) {
 			hit |= grep_oid(opt, &entry.oid, base->buf, tn_len,
 					 check_attr ? base->buf + tn_len : NULL);
-		} else if (S_ISDIR(entry.mode)) {
+		} else if (entry.object_type == OBJ_TREE) {
 			enum object_type type;
 			struct tree_desc sub;
 			void *data;
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ static int grep_tree(struct grep_opt *opt, const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 			hit |= grep_tree(opt, pathspec, &sub, base, tn_len,
 					 check_attr);
 			free(data);
-		} else if (recurse_submodules && S_ISGITLINK(entry.mode)) {
+		} else if (recurse_submodules && entry.object_type == OBJ_COMMIT) {
 			hit |= grep_submodule(opt, pathspec, &entry.oid,
 					      base->buf, base->buf + tn_len,
 					      1); /* ignored */
diff --git a/builtin/merge-tree.c b/builtin/merge-tree.c
index 2de34c2d485..12cb317c1ba 100644
--- a/builtin/merge-tree.c
+++ b/builtin/merge-tree.c
@@ -275,11 +275,11 @@ static void unresolved(const struct traverse_info *info, struct name_entry n[3])
 	if (dirmask == mask)
 		return;
 
-	if (n[2].mode && !S_ISDIR(n[2].mode))
+	if (n[2].object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 		entry = link_entry(3, info, n + 2, entry);
-	if (n[1].mode && !S_ISDIR(n[1].mode))
+	if (n[1].object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 		entry = link_entry(2, info, n + 1, entry);
-	if (n[0].mode && !S_ISDIR(n[0].mode))
+	if (n[0].object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 		entry = link_entry(1, info, n + 0, entry);
 
 	add_merge_entry(entry);
@@ -324,7 +324,8 @@ static int threeway_callback(int n, unsigned long mask, unsigned long dirmask, s
 	}
 
 	if (same_entry(entry+0, entry+1)) {
-		if (!is_null_oid(&entry[2].oid) && !S_ISDIR(entry[2].mode)) {
+		if (!is_null_oid(&entry[2].oid) &&
+		    entry[2].object_type != OBJ_TREE) {
 			/* We did not touch, they modified -- take theirs */
 			resolve(info, entry+1, entry+2);
 			return mask;
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index d3ba1d4a4a6..f92722c12d4 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -1524,7 +1524,7 @@ static void add_pbase_object(struct tree_desc *tree,
 	int cmp;
 
 	while (tree_entry(tree,&entry)) {
-		if (S_ISGITLINK(entry.mode))
+		if (entry.object_type == OBJ_COMMIT)
 			continue;
 		cmp = tree_entry_len(&entry) != cmplen ? 1 :
 		      memcmp(name, entry.path, cmplen);
@@ -1538,7 +1538,7 @@ static void add_pbase_object(struct tree_desc *tree,
 					 fullname, 1);
 			return;
 		}
-		if (S_ISDIR(entry.mode)) {
+		if (entry.object_type == OBJ_TREE) {
 			struct tree_desc sub;
 			struct pbase_tree_cache *tree;
 			const char *down = name+cmplen+1;
diff --git a/builtin/reflog.c b/builtin/reflog.c
index 09541d1c804..bcbca82aa90 100644
--- a/builtin/reflog.c
+++ b/builtin/reflog.c
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ static int tree_is_complete(const struct object_id *oid)
 	complete = 1;
 	while (tree_entry(&desc, &entry)) {
 		if (!has_object_file(&entry.oid) ||
-		    (S_ISDIR(entry.mode) && !tree_is_complete(&entry.oid))) {
+		    (entry.object_type == OBJ_TREE &&
+		     !tree_is_complete(&entry.oid))) {
 			tree->object.flags |= INCOMPLETE;
 			complete = 0;
 		}
diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index 2fb483d3c08..fbe93dd2a5f 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ static void prime_cache_tree_rec(struct repository *r,
 	init_tree_desc(&desc, tree->buffer, tree->size);
 	cnt = 0;
 	while (tree_entry(&desc, &entry)) {
-		if (!S_ISDIR(entry.mode))
+		if (entry.object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 			cnt++;
 		else {
 			struct cache_tree_sub *sub;
diff --git a/delta-islands.c b/delta-islands.c
index aa98b2e5414..e7cf93acbe3 100644
--- a/delta-islands.c
+++ b/delta-islands.c
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ void resolve_tree_islands(struct repository *r,
 		while (tree_entry(&desc, &entry)) {
 			struct object *obj;
 
-			if (S_ISGITLINK(entry.mode))
+			if (entry.object_type == OBJ_COMMIT)
 				continue;
 
 			obj = lookup_object(r, &entry.oid);
diff --git a/notes.c b/notes.c
index 0a5b4fa1dbb..d631dc5623e 100644
--- a/notes.c
+++ b/notes.c
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ static void load_subtree(struct notes_tree *t, struct leaf_node *subtree,
 		if (path_len == 2 * (hashsz - prefix_len)) {
 			/* This is potentially the remainder of the SHA-1 */
 
-			if (!S_ISREG(entry.mode))
+			if (entry.object_type != OBJ_BLOB)
 				/* notes must be blobs */
 				goto handle_non_note;
 
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ static void load_subtree(struct notes_tree *t, struct leaf_node *subtree,
 			/* This is potentially an internal node */
 			size_t len = prefix_len;
 
-			if (!S_ISDIR(entry.mode))
+			if (entry.object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 				/* internal nodes must be trees */
 				goto handle_non_note;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 92105135522..e24302f45ba 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1297,7 +1297,7 @@ static int unpack_callback(int n, unsigned long mask, unsigned long dirmask, str
 	if (dirmask) {
 		/* special case: "diff-index --cached" looking at a tree */
 		if (o->diff_index_cached &&
-		    n == 1 && dirmask == 1 && S_ISDIR(names->mode)) {
+		    n == 1 && dirmask == 1 && names->object_type == OBJ_TREE) {
 			int matches;
 			matches = cache_tree_matches_traversal(o->src_index->cache_tree,
 							       names, info);
