diff --git a/commands/command_clean.go b/commands/command_clean.go
index b2b4f0b8..8d5ec6fa 100644
--- a/commands/command_clean.go
+++ b/commands/command_clean.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import (
 //
 // If the object read from "from" is _already_ a clean pointer, then it will be
 // written out verbatim to "to", without trying to make it a pointer again.
-func clean(from io.Reader, to io.Writer, fileName string) error {
+func clean(to io.Writer, from io.Reader, fileName string) error {
 	var cb progress.CopyCallback
 	var file *os.File
 	var fileSize int64
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func cleanCommand(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		fileName = args[0]
 	}
 
-	if err := clean(os.Stdin, os.Stdout, fileName); err != nil {
+	if err := clean(os.Stdout, os.Stdin, fileName); err != nil {
 		Error(err.Error())
 	}
 }
diff --git a/commands/command_filter_process.go b/commands/command_filter_process.go
index b5b39814..2580cb56 100644
--- a/commands/command_filter_process.go
+++ b/commands/command_filter_process.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ var filterSmudgeSkip bool
 // This function, unlike the implementation found in the legacy smudge command,
 // only combines the `io.Reader`s when necessary, since the implementation
 // found in `*git.PacketReader` blocks while waiting for the following packet.
-func filterSmudge(from io.Reader, to io.Writer, filename string) error {
+func filterSmudge(to io.Writer, from io.Reader, filename string) error {
 	var pbuf bytes.Buffer
 	from = io.TeeReader(from, &pbuf)
 
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ Scan:
 		switch req.Header["command"] {
 		case "clean":
 			w = git.NewPktlineWriter(os.Stdout, cleanFilterBufferCapacity)
-			err = clean(req.Payload, w, req.Header["pathname"])
+			err = clean(w, req.Payload, req.Header["pathname"])
 		case "smudge":
 			w = git.NewPktlineWriter(os.Stdout, smudgeFilterBufferCapacity)
-			err = filterSmudge(req.Payload, w, req.Header["pathname"])
+			err = filterSmudge(w, req.Payload, req.Header["pathname"])
 		default:
 			fmt.Errorf("Unknown command %s", cmd)
 			break Scan