diff --git a/contrib/synthrepo.py b/contrib/synthrepo.py
--- a/contrib/synthrepo.py
+++ b/contrib/synthrepo.py
@@ -369,14 +369,14 @@
             while not validpath(path):
                 path = pickpath()
             data = '%s contents\n' % path
-            files[path] = context.memfilectx(repo, path, data)
+            files[path] = data
             dir = os.path.dirname(path)
             while dir and dir not in dirs:
                 dirs.add(dir)
                 dir = os.path.dirname(dir)
 
         def filectxfn(repo, memctx, path):
-            return files[path]
+            return context.memfilectx(repo, path, files[path])
 
         ui.progress(_synthesizing, None)
         message = 'synthesized wide repo with %d files' % (len(files),)