diff --git a/add-interactive.c b/add-interactive.c
index f071b2a1b4f..9c86f3b9532 100644
--- a/add-interactive.c
+++ b/add-interactive.c
@@ -1007,8 +1007,7 @@ static int run_diff(struct add_i_state *s, const struct pathspec *ps,
 			if (files->selected[i])
 				strvec_push(&args,
 					    files->items.items[i].string);
-		res = run_command_v_opt(args.v, 0);
-		strvec_clear(&args);
+		res = run_command_sv_opt(&args, 0);
 	}
 
 	putchar('\n');
diff --git a/builtin/add.c b/builtin/add.c
index f84372964c8..7c783eebc0e 100644
--- a/builtin/add.c
+++ b/builtin/add.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ static int refresh(int verbose, const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 int run_add_interactive(const char *revision, const char *patch_mode,
 			const struct pathspec *pathspec)
 {
-	int status, i;
+	int i;
 	struct strvec argv = STRVEC_INIT;
 	int use_builtin_add_i =
 		git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_ADD_I_USE_BUILTIN", -1);
@@ -282,9 +282,7 @@ int run_add_interactive(const char *revision, const char *patch_mode,
 		/* pass original pathspec, to be re-parsed */
 		strvec_push(&argv, pathspec->items[i].original);
 
-	status = run_command_v_opt(argv.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&argv);
-	return status;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&argv, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 int interactive_add(const char **argv, const char *prefix, int patch)
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 13fc7a4bc5d..eabf8e0f196 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -756,8 +756,7 @@ static int checkout(int submodule_progress, int filter_submodules)
 					       "--single-branch" :
 					       "--no-single-branch");
 
-		err = run_command_v_opt(args.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-		strvec_clear(&args);
+		return run_command_sv_opt(&args, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 	}
 
 	return err;
diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index 519e64e86ee..8393e19b504 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -1899,7 +1899,6 @@ static int is_schtasks_available(void)
 static int schtasks_remove_task(enum schedule_priority schedule)
 {
 	const char *cmd = "schtasks";
-	int result;
 	struct strvec args = STRVEC_INIT;
 	const char *frequency = get_frequency(schedule);
 
@@ -1909,9 +1908,7 @@ static int schtasks_remove_task(enum schedule_priority schedule)
 	strvec_pushf(&args, SCHTASKS_NAME_FMT, frequency);
 	strvec_pushl(&args, "/f", NULL);
 
-	result = run_command_v_opt(args.v, 0);
-	strvec_clear(&args);
-	return result;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&args, 0);
 }
 
 static int schtasks_remove_tasks(void)
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 403a24d7ca6..2f36823c97e 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -516,7 +516,6 @@ static void parse_repo_refspecs(int argc, const char **argv, const char **repo,
 static int run_fetch(const char *repo, const char **refspecs)
 {
 	struct strvec args = STRVEC_INIT;
-	int ret;
 
 	strvec_pushl(&args, "fetch", "--update-head-ok", NULL);
 
@@ -582,9 +581,7 @@ static int run_fetch(const char *repo, const char **refspecs)
 		strvec_pushv(&args, refspecs);
 	} else if (*refspecs)
 		BUG("refspecs without repo?");
-	ret = run_command_v_opt(args.v, RUN_GIT_CMD | RUN_CLOSE_OBJECT_STORE);
-	strvec_clear(&args);
-	return ret;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&args, RUN_GIT_CMD | RUN_CLOSE_OBJECT_STORE);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -653,7 +650,6 @@ static int update_submodules(void)
  */
 static int run_merge(void)
 {
-	int ret;
 	struct strvec args = STRVEC_INIT;
 
 	strvec_pushl(&args, "merge", NULL);
@@ -696,9 +692,7 @@ static int run_merge(void)
 		strvec_push(&args, "--allow-unrelated-histories");
 
 	strvec_push(&args, "FETCH_HEAD");
-	ret = run_command_v_opt(args.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&args);
-	return ret;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&args, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -879,7 +873,6 @@ static int get_rebase_newbase_and_upstream(struct object_id *newbase,
 static int run_rebase(const struct object_id *newbase,
 		const struct object_id *upstream)
 {
-	int ret;
 	struct strvec args = STRVEC_INIT;
 
 	strvec_push(&args, "rebase");
@@ -913,9 +906,7 @@ static int run_rebase(const struct object_id *newbase,
 
 	strvec_push(&args, oid_to_hex(upstream));
 
-	ret = run_command_v_opt(args.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&args);
-	return ret;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&args, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 static int get_can_ff(struct object_id *orig_head,
diff --git a/builtin/remote.c b/builtin/remote.c
index 1d86c14297b..07de21a624e 100644
--- a/builtin/remote.c
+++ b/builtin/remote.c
@@ -1508,7 +1508,6 @@ static int update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	};
 	struct strvec fetch_argv = STRVEC_INIT;
 	int default_defined = 0;
-	int retval;
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options,
 			     builtin_remote_update_usage,
@@ -1534,9 +1533,7 @@ static int update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 	}
 
-	retval = run_command_v_opt(fetch_argv.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&fetch_argv);
-	return retval;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&fetch_argv, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 static int remove_all_fetch_refspecs(const char *key)
diff --git a/merge.c b/merge.c
index 2382ff66d35..487debacecb 100644
--- a/merge.c
+++ b/merge.c
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ int try_merge_command(struct repository *r,
 	for (j = remotes; j; j = j->next)
 		strvec_push(&args, merge_argument(j->item));
 
-	ret = run_command_v_opt(args.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&args);
+	ret = run_command_sv_opt(&args, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 
 	discard_index(r->index);
 	if (repo_read_index(r) < 0)
diff --git a/run-command.h b/run-command.h
index 2b1fe3cde5c..639cee4f4fb 100644
--- a/run-command.h
+++ b/run-command.h
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ struct child_process {
 
 /**
  * The functions: child_process_init, start_command, finish_command,
- * run_command, run_command_l_opt, run_command_v_opt,
+ * run_command, run_command_l_opt, run_command_v_opt, run_command_sv_opt,
  * child_process_clear do the following:
  *
  * - If a system call failed, errno is set and -1 is returned. A diagnostic
@@ -262,6 +262,24 @@ int run_command_v_opt(const char **argv, int opt);
 LAST_ARG_MUST_BE_NULL
 int run_command_l_opt(int opt, ...);
 
+/**
+ * The run_command_sv_opt() function is a wrapper for
+ * run_command_v_opt(). It takes a "struct strvec *args" which
+ * similarly to run_command() (but not run_command_sv_opt()) will be
+ * strvec_clear()'d before returning.
+ *
+ * Use it for the common case of constructing a "struct strvec" for a
+ * one-shot run_command_v_opt() invocation.
+ */
+RESULT_MUST_BE_USED
+static inline int run_command_sv_opt(struct strvec *args, int opt)
+{
+	int ret = run_command_v_opt(args->v, opt);
+
+	strvec_clear(args);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 /**
  * Execute the given command, sending "in" to its stdin, and capturing its
  * stdout and stderr in the "out" and "err" strbufs. Any of the three may
diff --git a/scalar.c b/scalar.c
index 6de9c0ee523..3480bf73cbd 100644
--- a/scalar.c
+++ b/scalar.c
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@ static int run_git(const char *arg, ...)
 	struct strvec argv = STRVEC_INIT;
 	va_list args;
 	const char *p;
-	int res;
 
 	va_start(args, arg);
 	strvec_push(&argv, arg);
@@ -80,10 +79,7 @@ static int run_git(const char *arg, ...)
 		strvec_push(&argv, p);
 	va_end(args);
 
-	res = run_command_v_opt(argv.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-
-	strvec_clear(&argv);
-	return res;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&argv, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 struct scalar_config {
diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index 20495db9de2..7ee0e05512c 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -3183,7 +3183,6 @@ static int rollback_is_safe(void)
 
 static int reset_merge(const struct object_id *oid)
 {
-	int ret;
 	struct strvec argv = STRVEC_INIT;
 
 	strvec_pushl(&argv, "reset", "--merge", NULL);
@@ -3191,10 +3190,7 @@ static int reset_merge(const struct object_id *oid)
 	if (!is_null_oid(oid))
 		strvec_push(&argv, oid_to_hex(oid));
 
-	ret = run_command_v_opt(argv.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&argv);
-
-	return ret;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&argv, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 static int rollback_single_pick(struct repository *r)
@@ -4866,7 +4862,6 @@ static int pick_commits(struct repository *r,
 static int continue_single_pick(struct repository *r, struct replay_opts *opts)
 {
 	struct strvec argv = STRVEC_INIT;
-	int ret;
 
 	if (!refs_ref_exists(get_main_ref_store(r), "CHERRY_PICK_HEAD") &&
 	    !refs_ref_exists(get_main_ref_store(r), "REVERT_HEAD"))
@@ -4887,9 +4882,7 @@ static int continue_single_pick(struct repository *r, struct replay_opts *opts)
 		 */
 		strvec_pushl(&argv, "--no-edit", "--cleanup=strip", NULL);
 
-	ret = run_command_v_opt(argv.v, RUN_GIT_CMD);
-	strvec_clear(&argv);
-	return ret;
+	return run_command_sv_opt(&argv, RUN_GIT_CMD);
 }
 
 static int commit_staged_changes(struct repository *r,
