diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index e9d01ac7f7..3752c7e595 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -689,8 +689,7 @@ static void clear_or_reinit_internal_opts(struct merge_options_internal *opti,
 	 */
 	strmap_clear_func(&opti->conflicted, 0);
 
-	if (opti->attr_index.cache_nr) /* true iff opt->renormalize */
-		discard_index(&opti->attr_index);
+	discard_index(&opti->attr_index);
 
 	/* Free memory used by various renames maps */
 	for (i = MERGE_SIDE1; i <= MERGE_SIDE2; ++i) {
diff --git a/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh b/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh
index f3947b400a..10e9c91dbb 100755
--- a/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh
+++ b/t/t3507-cherry-pick-conflict.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=main
 export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
 
 TEST_CREATE_REPO_NO_TEMPLATE=1
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 pristine_detach () {
diff --git a/t/t6421-merge-partial-clone.sh b/t/t6421-merge-partial-clone.sh
index 711b709e75..020375c805 100755
--- a/t/t6421-merge-partial-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t6421-merge-partial-clone.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ test_description="limiting blob downloads when merging with partial clones"
 #                     underscore notation is to differentiate different
 #                     files that might be renamed into each other's paths.)
 
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-merge.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t6428-merge-conflicts-sparse.sh b/t/t6428-merge-conflicts-sparse.sh
index 9919c3fa7c..8a79bc2e92 100755
--- a/t/t6428-merge-conflicts-sparse.sh
+++ b/t/t6428-merge-conflicts-sparse.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ test_description="merge cases"
 #                     underscore notation is to differentiate different
 #                     files that might be renamed into each other's paths.)
 
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-merge.sh
 
diff --git a/t/t7817-grep-sparse-checkout.sh b/t/t7817-grep-sparse-checkout.sh
index eb59564565..0ba7817fb7 100755
--- a/t/t7817-grep-sparse-checkout.sh
+++ b/t/t7817-grep-sparse-checkout.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ should leave the following structure in the working tree:
 But note that sub2 should have the SKIP_WORKTREE bit set.
 '
 
+TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success 'setup' '