diff --git a/src/blob.c b/src/blob.c
index 732b0f3de..501c13d1a 100644
--- a/src/blob.c
+++ b/src/blob.c
@@ -35,17 +35,17 @@ int git_blob__getbuf(git_buf *buffer, git_blob *blob)
 		git_odb_object_size(blob->odb_object));
 }
 
-void git_blob__free(git_blob *blob)
+void git_blob__free(void *blob)
 {
-	git_odb_object_free(blob->odb_object);
+	git_odb_object_free(((git_blob *)blob)->odb_object);
 	git__free(blob);
 }
 
-int git_blob__parse(git_blob *blob, git_odb_object *odb_obj)
+int git_blob__from_odb_object(void *blob, git_odb_object *odb_obj)
 {
 	assert(blob);
 	git_cached_obj_incref((git_cached_obj *)odb_obj);
-	blob->odb_object = odb_obj;
+	((git_blob *)blob)->odb_object = odb_obj;
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/blob.h b/src/blob.h
index 524734b1f..4873505fd 100644
--- a/src/blob.h
+++ b/src/blob.h
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ struct git_blob {
 	git_odb_object *odb_object;
 };
 
-void git_blob__free(git_blob *blob);
-int git_blob__parse(git_blob *blob, git_odb_object *obj);
+void git_blob__free(void *blob);
+int git_blob__from_odb_object(void *blob, git_odb_object *obj);
 int git_blob__getbuf(git_buf *buffer, git_blob *blob);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/cache.c b/src/cache.c
index 263f736fa..c51be895e 100644
--- a/src/cache.c
+++ b/src/cache.c
@@ -70,12 +70,6 @@ int git_cache_init(git_cache *cache)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void git_cache_free(git_cache *cache)
-{
-	git_oidmap_free(cache->map);
-	git_mutex_free(&cache->lock);
-}
-
 void git_cache_clear(git_cache *cache)
 {
 	git_cached_obj *evict = NULL;
@@ -93,6 +87,14 @@ void git_cache_clear(git_cache *cache)
 	git_mutex_unlock(&cache->lock);
 }
 
+void git_cache_free(git_cache *cache)
+{
+	git_cache_clear(cache);
+
+	git_oidmap_free(cache->map);
+	git_mutex_free(&cache->lock);
+}
+
 /* Call with lock, yo */
 static void cache_evict_entries(git_cache *cache, size_t evict_count)
 {
diff --git a/src/cache.h b/src/cache.h
index 13b630e89..e95d521fe 100644
--- a/src/cache.h
+++ b/src/cache.h
@@ -21,17 +21,17 @@ enum {
 };
 
 typedef struct {
-	git_oid oid;
-	int16_t type;
-	uint16_t flags;
-	size_t size;
+	git_oid    oid;
+	int16_t    type;  /* git_otype value */
+	uint16_t   flags; /* GIT_CACHE_STORE value */
+	size_t     size;
 	git_atomic refcount;
 } git_cached_obj;
 
 typedef struct {
 	git_oidmap *map;
-	git_mutex lock;
-	size_t used_memory;
+	git_mutex   lock;
+	size_t      used_memory;
 } git_cache;
 
 extern bool git_cache__enabled;
diff --git a/src/commit.c b/src/commit.c
index 2cee44cd2..3eca5b341 100644
--- a/src/commit.c
+++ b/src/commit.c
@@ -31,8 +31,10 @@ static void clear_parents(git_commit *commit)
 	git_vector_clear(&commit->parent_ids);
 }
 
-void git_commit__free(git_commit *commit)
+void git_commit__free(void *_commit)
 {
+	git_commit *commit = _commit;
+
 	clear_parents(commit);
 	git_vector_free(&commit->parent_ids);
 
@@ -166,10 +168,9 @@ int git_commit_create(
 	return retval;
 }
 
-int git_commit__parse_buffer(git_commit *commit, const void *data, size_t len)
+int git_commit__parse(void *_commit, const char *buffer, const char *buffer_end)
 {
-	const char *buffer = data;
-	const char *buffer_end = (const char *)data + len;
+	git_commit *commit = _commit;
 	git_oid parent_id;
 
 	if (git_vector_init(&commit->parent_ids, 4, NULL) < 0)
@@ -241,13 +242,6 @@ bad_buffer:
 	return -1;
 }
 
-int git_commit__parse(git_commit *commit, git_odb_object *obj)
-{
-	assert(commit);
-	return git_commit__parse_buffer(
-		commit, git_odb_object_data(obj), git_odb_object_size(obj));
-}
-
 #define GIT_COMMIT_GETTER(_rvalue, _name, _return) \
 	_rvalue git_commit_##_name(const git_commit *commit) \
 	{\
diff --git a/src/commit.h b/src/commit.h
index 1ab164c0b..0c2c3ab5d 100644
--- a/src/commit.h
+++ b/src/commit.h
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ struct git_commit {
 	char *message;
 };
 
-void git_commit__free(git_commit *c);
-int git_commit__parse(git_commit *commit, git_odb_object *obj);
+void git_commit__free(void *commit);
+int git_commit__parse(void *commit, const char *buf, const char *bufend);
 
-int git_commit__parse_buffer(git_commit *commit, const void *data, size_t len);
 #endif
diff --git a/src/object.c b/src/object.c
index 80b765ef9..3698808c3 100644
--- a/src/object.c
+++ b/src/object.c
@@ -18,63 +18,39 @@
 
 static const int OBJECT_BASE_SIZE = 4096;
 
-static struct {
+typedef struct {
 	const char	*str;	/* type name string */
-	int			loose; /* valid loose object type flag */
 	size_t		size;	/* size in bytes of the object structure */
-} git_objects_table[] = {
+
+	int  (*from_odb)(void *self, git_odb_object *obj);
+	int  (*parse)(void *self, const char *buf, const char *buf_end);
+	void (*free)(void *self);
+} git_object_def;
+
+static git_object_def git_objects_table[] = {
 	/* 0 = GIT_OBJ__EXT1 */
-	{ "", 0, 0},
+	{ "", 0, NULL, NULL, NULL },
 
 	/* 1 = GIT_OBJ_COMMIT */
-	{ "commit", 1, sizeof(struct git_commit)},
+	{ "commit", sizeof(git_commit), NULL, git_commit__parse, git_commit__free },
 
 	/* 2 = GIT_OBJ_TREE */
-	{ "tree", 1, sizeof(struct git_tree) },
+	{ "tree", sizeof(git_tree), NULL, git_tree__parse, git_tree__free },
 
 	/* 3 = GIT_OBJ_BLOB */
-	{ "blob", 1, sizeof(struct git_blob) },
+	{ "blob", sizeof(git_blob), git_blob__from_odb_object, NULL, git_blob__free },
 
 	/* 4 = GIT_OBJ_TAG */
-	{ "tag", 1, sizeof(struct git_tag) },
+	{ "tag", sizeof(git_tag), NULL, git_tag__parse, git_tag__free },
 
 	/* 5 = GIT_OBJ__EXT2 */
-	{ "", 0, 0 },
-
+	{ "", 0, NULL, NULL, NULL },
 	/* 6 = GIT_OBJ_OFS_DELTA */
-	{ "OFS_DELTA", 0, 0 },
-
+	{ "OFS_DELTA", 0, NULL, NULL, NULL },
 	/* 7 = GIT_OBJ_REF_DELTA */
-	{ "REF_DELTA", 0, 0	}
+	{ "REF_DELTA", 0, NULL, NULL, NULL },
 };
 
-static int create_object(git_object **object_out, git_otype type)
-{
-	git_object *object = NULL;
-
-	assert(object_out);
-
-	*object_out = NULL;
-
-	switch (type) {
-	case GIT_OBJ_COMMIT:
-	case GIT_OBJ_TAG:
-	case GIT_OBJ_BLOB:
-	case GIT_OBJ_TREE:
-		object = git__malloc(git_object__size(type));
-		GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(object);
-		memset(object, 0x0, git_object__size(type));
-		break;
-
-	default:
-		giterr_set(GITERR_INVALID, "The given type is invalid");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	*object_out = object;
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int git_object__from_odb_object(
 	git_object **object_out,
 	git_repository *repo,
@@ -82,46 +58,47 @@ int git_object__from_odb_object(
 	git_otype type)
 {
 	int error;
+	size_t object_size;
+	git_object_def *def;
 	git_object *object = NULL;
 
+	assert(object_out);
+	*object_out = NULL;
+
+	/* Validate type match */
 	if (type != GIT_OBJ_ANY && type != odb_obj->cached.type) {
 		giterr_set(GITERR_INVALID,
 			"The requested type does not match the type in the ODB");
 		return GIT_ENOTFOUND;
 	}
 
-	if ((error = create_object(&object, odb_obj->cached.type)) < 0)
-		return error;
+	if ((object_size = git_object__size(odb_obj->cached.type)) == 0) {
+		giterr_set(GITERR_INVALID, "The requested type is invalid");
+		return GIT_ENOTFOUND;
+	}
+
+	/* Allocate and initialize base object */
+	object = git__calloc(1, object_size);
+	GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(object);
 
-	/* Initialize parent object */
 	git_oid_cpy(&object->cached.oid, &odb_obj->cached.oid);
-	object->cached.size = odb_obj->cached.size;
 	object->cached.type = odb_obj->cached.type;
+	object->cached.size = odb_obj->cached.size;
 	object->repo = repo;
 
-	switch (object->cached.type) {
-	case GIT_OBJ_COMMIT:
-		error = git_commit__parse((git_commit *)object, odb_obj);
-		break;
+	/* Parse raw object data */
+	def = &git_objects_table[odb_obj->cached.type];
+	assert(def->free && (def->from_odb || def->parse));
 
-	case GIT_OBJ_TREE:
-		error = git_tree__parse((git_tree *)object, odb_obj);
-		break;
-
-	case GIT_OBJ_TAG:
-		error = git_tag__parse((git_tag *)object, odb_obj);
-		break;
-
-	case GIT_OBJ_BLOB:
-		error = git_blob__parse((git_blob *)object, odb_obj);
-		break;
-
-	default:
-		break;
+	if (def->from_odb) {
+		error = def->from_odb(object, odb_obj);
+	} else {
+		const char *data = (const char *)git_odb_object_data(odb_obj);
+		error = def->parse(object, data, data + git_odb_object_size(odb_obj));
 	}
 
 	if (error < 0) {
-		git_object__free(object);
+		def->free(object);
 		return error;
 	}
 
@@ -129,6 +106,17 @@ int git_object__from_odb_object(
 	return 0;
 }
 
+void git_object__free(void *obj)
+{
+	git_otype type = ((git_object *)obj)->cached.type;
+
+	if (type < 0 || ((size_t)type) >= ARRAY_SIZE(git_objects_table) ||
+		!git_objects_table[type].free)
+		git__free(obj);
+	else
+		git_objects_table[type].free(obj);
+}
+
 int git_object_lookup_prefix(
 	git_object **object_out,
 	git_repository *repo,
@@ -222,35 +210,6 @@ int git_object_lookup(git_object **object_out, git_repository *repo, const git_o
 	return git_object_lookup_prefix(object_out, repo, id, GIT_OID_HEXSZ, type);
 }
 
-void git_object__free(void *_obj)
-{
-	git_object *object = (git_object *)_obj;
-
-	assert(object);
-
-	switch (object->cached.type) {
-	case GIT_OBJ_COMMIT:
-		git_commit__free((git_commit *)object);
-		break;
-
-	case GIT_OBJ_TREE:
-		git_tree__free((git_tree *)object);
-		break;
-
-	case GIT_OBJ_TAG:
-		git_tag__free((git_tag *)object);
-		break;
-
-	case GIT_OBJ_BLOB:
-		git_blob__free((git_blob *)object);
-		break;
-
-	default:
-		git__free(object);
-		break;
-	}
-}
-
 void git_object_free(git_object *object)
 {
 	if (object == NULL)
@@ -304,7 +263,7 @@ int git_object_typeisloose(git_otype type)
 	if (type < 0 || ((size_t) type) >= ARRAY_SIZE(git_objects_table))
 		return 0;
 
-	return git_objects_table[type].loose;
+	return (git_objects_table[type].size > 0) ? 1 : 0;
 }
 
 size_t git_object__size(git_otype type)
diff --git a/src/odb.c b/src/odb.c
index 16a842aa8..53630dddc 100644
--- a/src/odb.c
+++ b/src/odb.c
@@ -82,23 +82,24 @@ int git_odb__hashobj(git_oid *id, git_rawobj *obj)
 }
 
 
-static git_odb_object *new_odb_object(const git_oid *oid, git_rawobj *source)
+static git_odb_object *odb_object__alloc(const git_oid *oid, git_rawobj *source)
 {
-	git_odb_object *object = git__malloc(sizeof(git_odb_object));
-	memset(object, 0x0, sizeof(git_odb_object));
+	git_odb_object *object = git__calloc(1, sizeof(git_odb_object));
 
-	git_oid_cpy(&object->cached.oid, oid);
-	object->cached.size = source->len;
-	object->cached.type = source->type;
-	object->buffer = source->data;
+	if (object != NULL) {
+		git_oid_cpy(&object->cached.oid, oid);
+		object->cached.type = source->type;
+		object->cached.size = source->len;
+		object->buffer      = source->data;
+	}
 
 	return object;
 }
 
-void git_odb_object__free(git_odb_object *object)
+void git_odb_object__free(void *object)
 {
 	if (object != NULL) {
-		git__free(object->buffer);
+		git__free(((git_odb_object *)object)->buffer);
 		git__free(object);
 	}
 }
@@ -679,6 +680,7 @@ int git_odb_read(git_odb_object **out, git_odb *db, const git_oid *id)
 	int error;
 	bool refreshed = false;
 	git_rawobj raw;
+	git_odb_object *object;
 
 	assert(out && db && id);
 
@@ -713,7 +715,10 @@ attempt_lookup:
 	if (error && error != GIT_PASSTHROUGH)
 		return error;
 
-	*out = git_cache_store_raw(odb_cache(db), new_odb_object(id, &raw));
+	if ((object = odb_object__alloc(id, &raw)) == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
+	*out = git_cache_store_raw(odb_cache(db), object);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -726,6 +731,7 @@ int git_odb_read_prefix(
 	git_rawobj raw;
 	void *data = NULL;
 	bool found = false, refreshed = false;
+	git_odb_object *object;
 
 	assert(out && db);
 
@@ -777,7 +783,10 @@ attempt_lookup:
 	if (!found)
 		return git_odb__error_notfound("no match for prefix", short_id);
 
-	*out = git_cache_store_raw(odb_cache(db), new_odb_object(&found_full_oid, &raw));
+	if ((object = odb_object__alloc(&found_full_oid, &raw)) == NULL)
+		return -1;
+
+	*out = git_cache_store_raw(odb_cache(db), object);
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/odb.h b/src/odb.h
index 22c6e1668..0d9f9e2ea 100644
--- a/src/odb.h
+++ b/src/odb.h
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ struct git_odb {
 	git_cache own_cache;
 };
 
-void git_odb_object__free(git_odb_object *object);
-
 /*
  * Hash a git_rawobj internally.
  * The `git_rawobj` is supposed to be previously initialized
@@ -98,4 +96,7 @@ int git_odb__read_header_or_object(
 	git_odb_object **out, size_t *len_p, git_otype *type_p,
 	git_odb *db, const git_oid *id);
 
+/* fully free the object; internal method, DO NOT EXPORT */
+void git_odb_object__free(void *object);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/src/oidmap.h b/src/oidmap.h
index dfa951af3..a29c7cd35 100644
--- a/src/oidmap.h
+++ b/src/oidmap.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 __KHASH_TYPE(oid, const git_oid *, void *);
 typedef khash_t(oid) git_oidmap;
 
-GIT_INLINE(khint_t) hash_git_oid(const git_oid *oid)
+GIT_INLINE(khint_t) git_oidmap_hash(const git_oid *oid)
 {
 	khint_t h;
 	memcpy(&h, oid, sizeof(khint_t));
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ GIT_INLINE(khint_t) hash_git_oid(const git_oid *oid)
 }
 
 #define GIT__USE_OIDMAP \
-	__KHASH_IMPL(oid, static kh_inline, const git_oid *, void *, 1, hash_git_oid, git_oid_equal)
+	__KHASH_IMPL(oid, static kh_inline, const git_oid *, void *, 1, git_oidmap_hash, git_oid_equal)
 
 #define git_oidmap_alloc() kh_init(oid)
 #define git_oidmap_free(h) kh_destroy(oid,h), h = NULL
diff --git a/src/tag.c b/src/tag.c
index b76895d0c..7dadc7e60 100644
--- a/src/tag.c
+++ b/src/tag.c
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@
 #include "git2/signature.h"
 #include "git2/odb_backend.h"
 
-void git_tag__free(git_tag *tag)
+void git_tag__free(void *_tag)
 {
+	git_tag *tag = _tag;
 	git_signature_free(tag->tagger);
 	git__free(tag->message);
 	git__free(tag->tag_name);
@@ -69,18 +70,17 @@ static int tag_error(const char *str)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-int git_tag__parse_buffer(git_tag *tag, const char *buffer, size_t length)
+int git_tag__parse(void *_tag, const char *buffer, const char *buffer_end)
 {
 	static const char *tag_types[] = {
 		NULL, "commit\n", "tree\n", "blob\n", "tag\n"
 	};
 
+	git_tag *tag = _tag;
 	unsigned int i;
 	size_t text_len;
 	char *search;
 
-	const char *buffer_end = buffer + length;
-
 	if (git_oid__parse(&tag->target, &buffer, buffer_end, "object ") < 0)
 		return tag_error("Object field invalid");
 
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ int git_tag_create_frombuffer(git_oid *oid, git_repository *repo, const char *bu
 		return -1;
 
 	/* validate the buffer */
-	if (git_tag__parse_buffer(&tag, buffer, strlen(buffer)) < 0)
+	if (git_tag__parse(&tag, buffer, buffer + strlen(buffer)) < 0)
 		return -1;
 
 	/* validate the target */
@@ -390,15 +390,8 @@ int git_tag_delete(git_repository *repo, const char *tag_name)
 
 	if ((error = git_reference_delete(tag_ref)) == 0)
 		git_reference_free(tag_ref);
-	
-	return error;
-}
 
-int git_tag__parse(git_tag *tag, git_odb_object *obj)
-{
-	assert(tag);
-	return git_tag__parse_buffer(
-		tag, git_odb_object_data(obj), git_odb_object_size(obj));
+	return error;
 }
 
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/src/tag.h b/src/tag.h
index c8e421ee6..fb01a6f75 100644
--- a/src/tag.h
+++ b/src/tag.h
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ struct git_tag {
 	char *message;
 };
 
-void git_tag__free(git_tag *tag);
-int git_tag__parse(git_tag *tag, git_odb_object *obj);
-int git_tag__parse_buffer(git_tag *tag, const char *data, size_t len);
+void git_tag__free(void *tag);
+int git_tag__parse(void *tag, const char *buf, const char *buf_end);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/tree.c b/src/tree.c
index cc43b920c..e66fa2370 100644
--- a/src/tree.c
+++ b/src/tree.c
@@ -219,15 +219,16 @@ git_tree_entry *git_tree_entry_dup(const git_tree_entry *entry)
 	return copy;
 }
 
-void git_tree__free(git_tree *tree)
+void git_tree__free(void *tree)
 {
+	git_vector *entries = &((git_tree *)tree)->entries;
 	size_t i;
 	git_tree_entry *e;
 
-	git_vector_foreach(&tree->entries, i, e)
+	git_vector_foreach(entries, i, e)
 		git_tree_entry_free(e);
 
-	git_vector_free(&tree->entries);
+	git_vector_free(entries);
 	git__free(tree);
 }
 
@@ -371,10 +372,11 @@ static int tree_error(const char *str, const char *path)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-static int tree_parse_buffer(
-	git_tree *tree, const char *buffer, const char *buffer_end)
+int git_tree__parse(void *tree, const char *buffer, const char *buffer_end)
 {
-	if (git_vector_init(&tree->entries, DEFAULT_TREE_SIZE, entry_sort_cmp) < 0)
+	git_vector *tree_entries = &((git_tree *)tree)->entries;
+
+	if (git_vector_init(tree_entries, DEFAULT_TREE_SIZE, entry_sort_cmp) < 0)
 		return -1;
 
 	while (buffer < buffer_end) {
@@ -397,7 +399,7 @@ static int tree_parse_buffer(
 			entry = alloc_entry(buffer);
 			GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(entry);
 
-			if (git_vector_insert(&tree->entries, entry) < 0) {
+			if (git_vector_insert(tree_entries, entry) < 0) {
 				git__free(entry);
 				return -1;
 			}
@@ -417,17 +419,6 @@ static int tree_parse_buffer(
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int git_tree__parse(git_tree *tree, git_odb_object *obj)
-{
-	const char *buf;
-
-	assert(tree && obj);
-
-	buf = (const char *)git_odb_object_data(obj);
-
-	return tree_parse_buffer(tree, buf, buf + git_odb_object_size(obj));
-}
-
 static size_t find_next_dir(const char *dirname, git_index *index, size_t start)
 {
 	size_t dirlen, i, entries = git_index_entrycount(index);
diff --git a/src/tree.h b/src/tree.h
index b77bfd961..cf47fb478 100644
--- a/src/tree.h
+++ b/src/tree.h
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ GIT_INLINE(bool) git_tree_entry__is_tree(const struct git_tree_entry *e)
 
 extern int git_tree_entry_icmp(const git_tree_entry *e1, const git_tree_entry *e2);
 
-void git_tree__free(git_tree *tree);
-int git_tree__parse(git_tree *tree, git_odb_object *obj);
+void git_tree__free(void *tree);
+int git_tree__parse(void *tree, const char *buf, const char *buf_end);
 
 /**
  * Lookup the first position in the tree with a given prefix.
diff --git a/tests-clar/commit/parse.c b/tests-clar/commit/parse.c
index b99d27991..792b57626 100644
--- a/tests-clar/commit/parse.c
+++ b/tests-clar/commit/parse.c
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ void test_commit_parse__entire_commit(void)
 	const int broken_commit_count = sizeof(failing_commit_cases) / sizeof(*failing_commit_cases);
 	const int working_commit_count = sizeof(passing_commit_cases) / sizeof(*passing_commit_cases);
 	int i;
+	const char *buf;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < broken_commit_count; ++i) {
 		git_commit *commit;
@@ -276,9 +277,8 @@ void test_commit_parse__entire_commit(void)
 		memset(commit, 0x0, sizeof(git_commit));
 		commit->object.repo = g_repo;
 
-		cl_git_fail(git_commit__parse_buffer(
-			commit, failing_commit_cases[i], strlen(failing_commit_cases[i]))
-		);
+		buf = failing_commit_cases[i];
+		cl_git_fail(git_commit__parse(commit, buf, buf + strlen(buf)));
 
 		git_commit__free(commit);
 	}
@@ -290,11 +290,8 @@ void test_commit_parse__entire_commit(void)
 		memset(commit, 0x0, sizeof(git_commit));
 		commit->object.repo = g_repo;
 
-		cl_git_pass(git_commit__parse_buffer(
-                     commit,
-                     passing_commit_cases[i],
-                     strlen(passing_commit_cases[i]))
-         );
+		buf = passing_commit_cases[i];
+		cl_git_pass(git_commit__parse(commit, buf, buf + strlen(buf)));
 
 		if (!i)
 			cl_assert_equal_s("", git_commit_message(commit));