diff --git a/pkg/sources/git/git.go b/pkg/sources/git/git.go
index 5843f49b83a2..8922f06dbd4e 100644
--- a/pkg/sources/git/git.go
+++ b/pkg/sources/git/git.go
@@ -1241,19 +1241,18 @@ func (s *Git) handleBinary(ctx context.Context, gitDir string, reporter sources.
 	}
 
 	cmd := exec.Command("git", "-C", gitDir, "cat-file", "blob", commitHash.String()+":"+path)
-	stdout, catCmd, err := s.executeCatFileCmd(cmd)
+	stdout, err := s.executeCatFileCmd(cmd)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	// Wait must be called after closing the pipe (defer is a stack, so first defer is executed last)
-	defer func() {
-		_ = catCmd.Wait()
-	}()
-	defer stdout.Close()
 
 	err = handlers.HandleFile(ctx, stdout, chunkSkel, reporter, handlers.WithSkipArchives(s.skipArchives))
 
 	// Always call Wait() to ensure the process is properly cleaned up
+	// Wait must be called after closing the pipe (https://stackoverflow.com/a/40706762).
+	if closeErr := stdout.Close(); closeErr != nil {
+		fileCtx.Logger().Error(closeErr, "error closing stdout for cat-file command")
+	}
 	waitErr := cmd.Wait()
 
 	// If there was an error in HandleFile, return that error
@@ -1265,20 +1264,20 @@ func (s *Git) handleBinary(ctx context.Context, gitDir string, reporter sources.
 	return waitErr
 }
 
-func (s *Git) executeCatFileCmd(cmd *exec.Cmd) (io.ReadCloser, *exec.Cmd, error) {
+func (s *Git) executeCatFileCmd(cmd *exec.Cmd) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	var stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
 
 	stdout, err := cmd.StdoutPipe()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("error running git cat-file: %w\n%s", err, stderr.Bytes())
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error running git cat-file: %w\n%s", err, stderr.Bytes())
 	}
 
 	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("error starting git cat-file: %w\n%s", err, stderr.Bytes())
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error starting git cat-file: %w\n%s", err, stderr.Bytes())
 	}
 
-	return stdout, cmd, nil
+	return stdout, nil
 }
 
 func (s *Source) Enumerate(ctx context.Context, reporter sources.UnitReporter) error {