diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index 1df7f797cb..6d0f645301 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -618,18 +618,6 @@ static int batch_objects(struct batch_options *opt)
 	return retval;
 }
 
-static const char * const cat_file_usage[] = {
-	N_("git cat-file <type> <object>"),
-	N_("git cat-file (-e | -p) <object>"),
-	N_("git cat-file ( -t | -s ) [--allow-unknown-type] <object>"),
-	N_("git cat-file (--batch | --batch-check) [--batch-all-objects]\n"
-	   "             [--buffer] [--follow-symlinks] [--unordered]\n"
-	   "             [--textconv | --filters]"),
-	N_("git cat-file (--textconv | --filters )\n"
-	   "             [<rev>:<path|tree-ish> | --path=<path|tree-ish> <rev>]"),
-	NULL
-};
-
 static int git_cat_file_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 {
 	if (userdiff_config(var, value) < 0)
@@ -664,6 +652,17 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	struct batch_options batch = {0};
 	int unknown_type = 0;
 
+	const char * const usage[] = {
+		N_("git cat-file <type> <object>"),
+		N_("git cat-file (-e | -p) <object>"),
+		N_("git cat-file ( -t | -s ) [--allow-unknown-type] <object>"),
+		N_("git cat-file (--batch | --batch-check) [--batch-all-objects]\n"
+		   "             [--buffer] [--follow-symlinks] [--unordered]\n"
+		   "             [--textconv | --filters]"),
+		N_("git cat-file (--textconv | --filters )\n"
+		   "             [<rev>:<path|tree-ish> | --path=<path|tree-ish> <rev>]"),
+		NULL
+	};
 	const struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_GROUP(N_("<type> can be one of: blob, tree, commit, tag")),
 		OPT_CMDMODE('t', NULL, &opt, N_("show object type"), 't'),
@@ -700,7 +699,7 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	git_config(git_cat_file_config, NULL);
 
 	batch.buffer_output = -1;
-	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, cat_file_usage, 0);
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, usage, 0);
 
 	if (opt) {
 		if (batch.enabled && (opt == 'c' || opt == 'w'))
@@ -708,35 +707,35 @@ int cmd_cat_file(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		else if (argc == 1)
 			obj_name = argv[0];
 		else
-			usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
+			usage_with_options(usage, options);
 	}
 	if (!opt && !batch.enabled) {
 		if (argc == 2) {
 			exp_type = argv[0];
 			obj_name = argv[1];
 		} else
-			usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
+			usage_with_options(usage, options);
 	}
 	if (batch.enabled) {
 		if (batch.cmdmode != opt || argc)
-			usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
+			usage_with_options(usage, options);
 		if (batch.cmdmode && batch.all_objects)
 			die("--batch-all-objects cannot be combined with "
 			    "--textconv nor with --filters");
 	}
 
 	if ((batch.follow_symlinks || batch.all_objects) && !batch.enabled) {
-		usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
+		usage_with_options(usage, options);
 	}
 
 	if (force_path && opt != 'c' && opt != 'w') {
 		error("--path=<path> needs --textconv or --filters");
-		usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
+		usage_with_options(usage, options);
 	}
 
 	if (force_path && batch.enabled) {
 		error("--path=<path> incompatible with --batch");
-		usage_with_options(cat_file_usage, options);
+		usage_with_options(usage, options);
 	}
 
 	if (batch.buffer_output < 0)