diff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c
index c55517ad94..01bc27904e 100644
--- a/builtin/init-db.c
+++ b/builtin/init-db.c
@@ -229,6 +229,8 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,
 
 	if (!is_bare_repository_cfg) {
 		const char *git_dir_parent = strrchr(git_dir, '/');
+		char *git_work_tree_cfg = NULL;
+
 		if (git_dir_parent) {
 			char *rel = xstrndup(git_dir, git_dir_parent - git_dir);
 			git_work_tree_cfg = real_pathdup(rel, 1);
@@ -243,6 +245,8 @@ int cmd_init_db(int argc,
 		if (access(repo_get_work_tree(the_repository), X_OK))
 			die_errno (_("Cannot access work tree '%s'"),
 				   repo_get_work_tree(the_repository));
+
+		free(git_work_tree_cfg);
 	}
 	else {
 		if (real_git_dir)
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index fc3ed8bb1c..4e86335f25 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -100,9 +100,6 @@ int auto_comment_line_char;
 bool warn_on_auto_comment_char;
 #endif /* !WITH_BREAKING_CHANGES */
 
-/* This is set by setup_git_directory_gently() and/or git_default_config() */
-char *git_work_tree_cfg;
-
 /*
  * Repository-local GIT_* environment variables; see environment.h for details.
  */
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index ccfcf37bfb..5d6e4e6c1b 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -149,7 +149,6 @@ int have_git_dir(void);
 
 extern int is_bare_repository_cfg;
 int is_bare_repository(void);
-extern char *git_work_tree_cfg;
 
 /* Environment bits from configuration mechanism */
 extern int trust_executable_bit;
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index b4652651df..52228b42a1 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ enum allowed_bare_repo {
 	ALLOWED_BARE_REPO_ALL,
 };
 
+/* This is set by setup_git_directory_gently() and/or git_default_config() */
+static char *git_work_tree_cfg;
+
 static struct startup_info the_startup_info;
 struct startup_info *startup_info = &the_startup_info;
 const char *tmp_original_cwd;