diff --git a/git_common.py b/git_common.py
index 83092258d6..925f2cd91c 100644
--- a/git_common.py
+++ b/git_common.py
@@ -496,7 +496,8 @@ def freeze():
           '--pathspec-from-file',
           '-',
           '--ignore-errors',
-          indata=b'\n'.join(unindexed))
+          indata=b'\n'.join(unindexed),
+          cwd=root_path)
     except subprocess2.CalledProcessError:
       add_errors = True