diff --git a/tests-clar/diff/tree.c b/tests-clar/diff/tree.c
index 442e53b25..cd951a15a 100644
--- a/tests-clar/diff/tree.c
+++ b/tests-clar/diff/tree.c
@@ -2,13 +2,28 @@
 #include "diff_helpers.h"
 
 static git_repository *g_repo = NULL;
+static git_diff_options opts;
+static git_diff_list *diff;
+static git_tree *a, *b;
+static diff_expects exp;
 
 void test_diff_tree__initialize(void)
 {
+	GIT_INIT_STRUCTURE(&opts, GIT_DIFF_OPTIONS_VERSION);
+
+	memset(&exp, 0, sizeof(exp));
+
+	diff = NULL;
+	a = NULL;
+	b = NULL;
 }
 
 void test_diff_tree__cleanup(void)
 {
+	git_diff_list_free(diff);
+	git_tree_free(a);
+	git_tree_free(b);
+
 	cl_git_sandbox_cleanup();
 }
 
@@ -18,10 +33,7 @@ void test_diff_tree__0(void)
 	const char *a_commit = "605812a";
 	const char *b_commit = "370fe9ec22";
 	const char *c_commit = "f5b0af1fb4f5c";
-	git_tree *a, *b, *c;
-	git_diff_options opts = GIT_DIFF_OPTIONS_INIT;
-	git_diff_list *diff = NULL;
-	diff_expects exp;
+	git_tree *c;
 
 	g_repo = cl_git_sandbox_init("attr");
 
@@ -32,7 +44,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__0(void)
 	opts.context_lines = 1;
 	opts.interhunk_lines = 1;
 
-	memset(&exp, 0, sizeof(exp));
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_diff_tree_to_tree(&diff, g_repo, a, b, &opts));
 
@@ -73,10 +84,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__0(void)
 	cl_assert_equal_i(1, exp.line_adds);
 	cl_assert_equal_i(7 + 14, exp.line_dels);
 
-	git_diff_list_free(diff);
-
-	git_tree_free(a);
-	git_tree_free(b);
 	git_tree_free(c);
 }
 
@@ -87,9 +94,7 @@ void test_diff_tree__options(void)
 	const char *b_commit = "605812ab7fe421fdd";
 	const char *c_commit = "f5b0af1fb4f5";
 	const char *d_commit = "a97cc019851";
-	git_tree *a, *b, *c, *d;
-	git_diff_options opts = {0};
-	git_diff_list *diff = NULL;
+	git_tree *c, *d;
 	diff_expects actual;
 	int test_ab_or_cd[] = { 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 };
 	git_diff_options test_options[] = {
@@ -164,8 +169,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__options(void)
 		diff = NULL;
 	}
 
-	git_tree_free(a);
-	git_tree_free(b);
 	git_tree_free(c);
 	git_tree_free(d);
 }
@@ -174,10 +177,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__bare(void)
 {
 	const char *a_commit = "8496071c1b46c85";
 	const char *b_commit = "be3563ae3f79";
-	git_tree *a, *b;
-	git_diff_options opts = GIT_DIFF_OPTIONS_INIT;
-	git_diff_list *diff = NULL;
-	diff_expects exp;
 
 	g_repo = cl_git_sandbox_init("testrepo.git");
 
@@ -187,8 +186,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__bare(void)
 	opts.context_lines = 1;
 	opts.interhunk_lines = 1;
 
-	memset(&exp, 0, sizeof(exp));
-
 	cl_git_pass(git_diff_tree_to_tree(&diff, g_repo, a, b, &opts));
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_diff_foreach(
@@ -205,10 +202,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__bare(void)
 	cl_assert_equal_i(0, exp.line_ctxt);
 	cl_assert_equal_i(3, exp.line_adds);
 	cl_assert_equal_i(1, exp.line_dels);
-
-	git_diff_list_free(diff);
-	git_tree_free(a);
-	git_tree_free(b);
 }
 
 void test_diff_tree__merge(void)
@@ -217,9 +210,8 @@ void test_diff_tree__merge(void)
 	const char *a_commit = "605812a";
 	const char *b_commit = "370fe9ec22";
 	const char *c_commit = "f5b0af1fb4f5c";
-	git_tree *a, *b, *c;
+	git_tree *c;
 	git_diff_list *diff1 = NULL, *diff2 = NULL;
-	diff_expects exp;
 
 	g_repo = cl_git_sandbox_init("attr");
 
@@ -231,16 +223,12 @@ void test_diff_tree__merge(void)
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_diff_tree_to_tree(&diff2, g_repo, c, b, NULL));
 
-	git_tree_free(a);
-	git_tree_free(b);
 	git_tree_free(c);
 
 	cl_git_pass(git_diff_merge(diff1, diff2));
 
 	git_diff_list_free(diff2);
 
-	memset(&exp, 0, sizeof(exp));
-
 	cl_git_pass(git_diff_foreach(
 		diff1, diff_file_cb, diff_hunk_cb, diff_line_cb, &exp));
 
@@ -263,9 +251,6 @@ void test_diff_tree__larger_hunks(void)
 {
 	const char *a_commit = "d70d245ed97ed2aa596dd1af6536e4bfdb047b69";
 	const char *b_commit = "7a9e0b02e63179929fed24f0a3e0f19168114d10";
-	git_tree *a, *b;
-	git_diff_options opts = GIT_DIFF_OPTIONS_INIT;
-	git_diff_list *diff = NULL;
 	size_t d, num_d, h, num_h, l, num_l, header_len, line_len;
 	const git_diff_delta *delta;
 	git_diff_patch *patch;
@@ -312,21 +297,12 @@ void test_diff_tree__larger_hunks(void)
 	cl_git_fail(git_diff_get_patch(&patch, &delta, diff, num_d));
 
 	cl_assert_equal_i(2, (int)num_d);
-
-	git_diff_list_free(diff);
-	diff = NULL;
-
-	git_tree_free(a);
-	git_tree_free(b);
 }
 
 void test_diff_tree__checks_options_version(void)
 {
 	const char *a_commit = "8496071c1b46c85";
 	const char *b_commit = "be3563ae3f79";
-	git_tree *a, *b;
-	git_diff_options opts = GIT_DIFF_OPTIONS_INIT;
-	git_diff_list *diff = NULL;
 	const git_error *err;
 
 	g_repo = cl_git_sandbox_init("testrepo.git");
@@ -343,7 +319,4 @@ void test_diff_tree__checks_options_version(void)
 	opts.version = 1024;
 	cl_git_fail(git_diff_tree_to_tree(&diff, g_repo, a, b, &opts));
 	err = giterr_last();
-
-	git_tree_free(a);
-	git_tree_free(b);
 }