diff --git a/src/server/server.c b/src/server/server.c
index d20d3a8..9df4e92 100644
--- a/src/server/server.c
+++ b/src/server/server.c
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ static bool is_excluded(const char* path, const Config* config) {
   char* path_dup = str_dup(path);
   if (!path_dup)
     return false;
+  /* basename(3) may return a pointer into path_dup or a static buffer;
+   * either way we free path_dup, not fname. */
   char* fname = basename(path_dup);
 
   // Check exclude patterns
diff --git a/tests/test_scanner.c b/tests/test_scanner.c
index 7ec4a9e..4c6048c 100644
--- a/tests/test_scanner.c
+++ b/tests/test_scanner.c
@@ -248,8 +248,6 @@ static void test_scanner_max_size() {
   const char* dir = "test_scan_max";
   const char* small = "test_scan_max/small.txt";
   const char* large = "test_scan_max/large.txt";
-  create_test_file(small, "tiny");
-  create_test_file(large, "this_content_is_longer_than_ten_chars");
 
   mkdir(dir, 0755);
   create_test_file(small, "tiny");