diff --git a/archive.c b/archive.c
index 95fa759e1fb..bc8f1c7546f 100644
--- a/archive.c
+++ b/archive.c
@@ -479,14 +479,14 @@ static void parse_treeish_arg(const char **argv,
 
 	if (prefix) {
 		struct object_id tree_oid;
-		unsigned short mode;
+		enum object_type object_type;
 		int err;
 
-		err = get_tree_entry_mode(ar_args->repo,
+		err = get_tree_entry_type(ar_args->repo,
 					  &tree->object.oid,
 					  prefix, &tree_oid,
-					  &mode);
-		if (err || !S_ISDIR(mode))
+					  &object_type);
+		if (err || object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 			die(_("current working directory is untracked"));
 
 		tree = parse_tree_indirect(&tree_oid);
diff --git a/blame.c b/blame.c
index 9e0543e13d4..4944582dc3c 100644
--- a/blame.c
+++ b/blame.c
@@ -101,11 +101,11 @@ static void verify_working_tree_path(struct repository *r,
 	for (parents = work_tree->parents; parents; parents = parents->next) {
 		const struct object_id *commit_oid = &parents->item->object.oid;
 		struct object_id blob_oid;
-		unsigned short mode;
-		int ret = get_tree_entry_mode(r, commit_oid, path, &blob_oid,
-					      &mode);
+		enum object_type object_type;
+		int ret = get_tree_entry_type(r, commit_oid, path, &blob_oid,
+					      &object_type);
 
-		if (!ret && oid_object_info(r, &blob_oid, NULL) == OBJ_BLOB)
+		if (!ret && object_type == OBJ_BLOB)
 			return;
 	}
 
diff --git a/match-trees.c b/match-trees.c
index 4f02768c01e..ce3f811ec04 100644
--- a/match-trees.c
+++ b/match-trees.c
@@ -317,17 +317,17 @@ void shift_tree_by(struct repository *r,
 		   const char *shift_prefix)
 {
 	struct object_id sub1, sub2;
-	unsigned short tmp;
+	enum object_type tmp;
 	unsigned candidate = 0;
 
 	/* Can hash2 be a tree at shift_prefix in tree hash1? */
-	if (!get_tree_entry_mode(r, hash1, shift_prefix, &sub1, &tmp) &&
-	    S_ISDIR(tmp))
+	if (!get_tree_entry_type(r, hash1, shift_prefix, &sub1, &tmp) &&
+	    tmp == OBJ_TREE)
 		candidate |= 1;
 
 	/* Can hash1 be a tree at shift_prefix in tree hash2? */
-	if (!get_tree_entry_mode(r, hash2, shift_prefix, &sub2, &tmp) &&
-	    S_ISDIR(tmp))
+	if (!get_tree_entry_type(r, hash2, shift_prefix, &sub2, &tmp) &&
+	    tmp == OBJ_TREE)
 		candidate |= 2;
 
 	if (candidate == 3) {
diff --git a/tree-walk.c b/tree-walk.c
index 7819ff3e0ec..0ad3d80593e 100644
--- a/tree-walk.c
+++ b/tree-walk.c
@@ -561,7 +561,8 @@ struct dir_state {
 
 static int find_tree_entry(struct repository *r, struct tree_desc *t,
 			   const char *name, struct object_id *result,
-			   unsigned short *mode)
+			   unsigned short *mode,
+			   enum object_type *object_type)
 {
 	int namelen = strlen(name);
 	while (t->size) {
@@ -585,23 +586,24 @@ static int find_tree_entry(struct repository *r, struct tree_desc *t,
 		}
 		if (name[entrylen] != '/')
 			continue;
-		if (!S_ISDIR(*mode))
+		if (*object_type != OBJ_TREE)
 			break;
 		if (++entrylen == namelen) {
 			oidcpy(result, &oid);
 			return 0;
 		}
-		return get_tree_entry_mode(r, &oid, name + entrylen, result,
-					   mode);
+		return get_tree_entry_all(r, &oid, name + entrylen, result,
+					  mode, object_type);
 	}
 	return -1;
 }
 
-int get_tree_entry_mode(struct repository *r,
-			const struct object_id *tree_oid,
-			const char *name,
-			struct object_id *oid,
-			unsigned short *mode)
+int get_tree_entry_all(struct repository *r,
+		       const struct object_id *tree_oid,
+		       const char *name,
+		       struct object_id *oid,
+		       unsigned short *mode,
+		       enum object_type *object_type)
 {
 	int retval;
 	void *tree;
@@ -624,12 +626,34 @@ int get_tree_entry_mode(struct repository *r,
 		struct tree_desc t;
 		init_tree_desc(&t, tree, size);
 		retval = find_tree_entry(r, &t, name, oid,
-					 mode);
+					 mode, object_type);
 	}
 	free(tree);
 	return retval;
 }
 
+int get_tree_entry_mode(struct repository *r,
+			const struct object_id *tree_oid,
+			const char *name,
+			struct object_id *oid,
+			unsigned short *mode)
+{
+	enum object_type object_type;
+	return get_tree_entry_all(r, tree_oid, name, oid,
+				  mode, &object_type);
+}
+
+int get_tree_entry_type(struct repository *r,
+			const struct object_id *tree_oid,
+			const char *name,
+			struct object_id *oid,
+			enum object_type *object_type)
+{
+	unsigned short mode;
+	return get_tree_entry_all(r, tree_oid, name, oid,
+				  &mode, object_type);
+}
+
 /*
  * This is Linux's built-in max for the number of symlinks to follow.
  * That limit, of course, does not affect git, but it's a reasonable
@@ -674,6 +698,7 @@ enum get_oid_result get_tree_entry_follow_symlinks(struct repository *r,
 		int find_result;
 		char *first_slash;
 		char *remainder = NULL;
+		enum object_type object_type;
 
 		if (!t.buffer) {
 			void *tree;
@@ -751,7 +776,7 @@ enum get_oid_result get_tree_entry_follow_symlinks(struct repository *r,
 		/* Look up the first (or only) path component in the tree. */
 		find_result = find_tree_entry(r, &t, namebuf.buf,
 					      &current_tree_oid,
-					      mode);
+					      mode, &object_type);
 		if (find_result) {
 			goto done;
 		}
diff --git a/tree-walk.h b/tree-walk.h
index eb9b9de6ccc..5db38fcb575 100644
--- a/tree-walk.h
+++ b/tree-walk.h
@@ -171,12 +171,23 @@ struct traverse_info {
  * Find an entry in a tree given a pathname and the sha1 of a tree to
  * search. Returns 0 if the entry is found and -1 otherwise.
  *
- * The third and fourth parameters are set to the entry's sha1 and
- * mode respectively.
+ * There are variants of this function depending on what fields in the
+ * "struct name_entry" you'd like. You always need to pointer to an
+ * appropriate variable to fill in (NULL won't do!):
+ *
+ * get_tree_entry_mode(): unsigned int mode
+ * get_tree_entry_type(): enum object_type
+ * get_tree_entry_all(): unsigned int mode, enum object_type
  */
 int get_tree_entry_mode(struct repository *, const struct object_id *, const char *,
 			struct object_id *,
 			unsigned short *);
+int get_tree_entry_type(struct repository *, const struct object_id *, const char *,
+			struct object_id *,
+			enum object_type *);
+int get_tree_entry_all(struct repository *, const struct object_id *, const char *,
+		       struct object_id *,
+		       unsigned short *, enum object_type *);
 
 /**
  * Generate the full pathname of a tree entry based from the root of the
