diff --git a/builtin/stash--helper.c b/builtin/stash--helper.c
index d3c7748fd9..dc4ed52c96 100644
--- a/builtin/stash--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/stash--helper.c
@@ -886,18 +886,18 @@ static int get_untracked_files(struct pathspec ps, int include_untracked,
 }
 
 /*
- * The return value of `check_changes_tracked_files()` can be:
+ * The return value of `check_changes()` can be:
  *
  * < 0 if there was an error
  * = 0 if there are no changes.
  * > 0 if there are changes.
  */
-
-static int check_changes_tracked_files(struct pathspec ps)
+static int check_changes(struct pathspec ps, int include_untracked)
 {
 	int result;
 	struct rev_info rev;
 	struct object_id dummy;
+	struct strbuf out = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	/* No initial commit. */
 	if (get_oid("HEAD", &dummy))
@@ -925,26 +925,14 @@ static int check_changes_tracked_files(struct pathspec ps)
 	if (diff_result_code(&rev.diffopt, result))
 		return 1;
 
-	return 0;
-}
-
-/*
- * The function will fill `untracked_files` with the names of untracked files
- * It will return 1 if there were any changes and 0 if there were not.
- */
-
-static int check_changes(struct pathspec ps, int include_untracked,
-			 struct strbuf *untracked_files)
-{
-	int ret = 0;
-	if (check_changes_tracked_files(ps))
-		ret = 1;
-
 	if (include_untracked && get_untracked_files(ps, include_untracked,
-						     untracked_files))
-		ret = 1;
+						     &out)) {
+		strbuf_release(&out);
+		return 1;
+	}
 
-	return ret;
+	strbuf_release(&out);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int save_untracked_files(struct stash_info *info, struct strbuf *msg,
@@ -1155,7 +1143,7 @@ static int do_create_stash(struct pathspec ps, struct strbuf *stash_msg_buf,
 		head_commit = lookup_commit(the_repository, &info->b_commit);
 	}
 
-	if (!check_changes(ps, include_untracked, &untracked_files)) {
+	if (!check_changes(ps, include_untracked)) {
 		ret = 1;
 		goto done;
 	}
@@ -1180,7 +1168,8 @@ static int do_create_stash(struct pathspec ps, struct strbuf *stash_msg_buf,
 		goto done;
 	}
 
-	if (include_untracked) {
+	if (include_untracked && get_untracked_files(ps, include_untracked,
+						     &untracked_files)) {
 		if (save_untracked_files(info, &msg, untracked_files)) {
 			if (!quiet)
 				fprintf_ln(stderr, _("Cannot save "
@@ -1265,15 +1254,20 @@ static int create_stash(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			     0);
 
 	memset(&ps, 0, sizeof(ps));
-	if (!check_changes_tracked_files(ps))
-		return 0;
-
 	strbuf_addstr(&stash_msg_buf, stash_msg);
-	if (!(ret = do_create_stash(ps, &stash_msg_buf, 0, 0, &info, NULL, 0)))
+	ret = do_create_stash(ps, &stash_msg_buf, include_untracked, 0, &info,
+			      NULL, 0);
+
+	if (!ret)
 		printf_ln("%s", oid_to_hex(&info.w_commit));
 
 	strbuf_release(&stash_msg_buf);
-	return ret;
+
+	/*
+	 * ret can be 1 if there were no changes. In this case, we should
+	 * not error out.
+	 */
+	return ret < 0;
 }
 
 static int do_push_stash(struct pathspec ps, const char *stash_msg, int quiet,
@@ -1283,7 +1277,6 @@ static int do_push_stash(struct pathspec ps, const char *stash_msg, int quiet,
 	struct stash_info info;
 	struct strbuf patch = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf stash_msg_buf = STRBUF_INIT;
-	struct strbuf untracked_files = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	if (patch_mode && keep_index == -1)
 		keep_index = 1;
@@ -1318,7 +1311,7 @@ static int do_push_stash(struct pathspec ps, const char *stash_msg, int quiet,
 		goto done;
 	}
 
-	if (!check_changes(ps, include_untracked, &untracked_files)) {
+	if (!check_changes(ps, include_untracked)) {
 		if (!quiet)
 			printf_ln(_("No local changes to save"));
 		goto done;