diff --git a/builtin/blame.c b/builtin/blame.c
index db1f56de61..9aa74680a3 100644
--- a/builtin/blame.c
+++ b/builtin/blame.c
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ static const char *format_time(timestamp_t time, const char *tz_str,
 		size_t time_width;
 		int tz;
 		tz = atoi(tz_str);
-		time_str = show_date(time, tz, &blame_date_mode);
+		time_str = show_date(time, tz, blame_date_mode);
 		strbuf_addstr(&time_buf, time_str);
 		/*
 		 * Add space paddings to time_buf to display a fixed width
@@ -1029,7 +1029,7 @@ int cmd_blame(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		blame_date_width = sizeof("Thu Oct 19 16:00:04 2006 -0700");
 		break;
 	case DATE_STRFTIME:
-		blame_date_width = strlen(show_date(0, 0, &blame_date_mode)) + 1; /* add the null */
+		blame_date_width = strlen(show_date(0, 0, blame_date_mode)) + 1; /* add the null */
 		break;
 	}
 	blame_date_width -= 1; /* strip the null */
diff --git a/date.c b/date.c
index 44cf2221d8..7365a4ad24 100644
--- a/date.c
+++ b/date.c
@@ -207,13 +207,13 @@ void show_date_relative(timestamp_t time, struct strbuf *timebuf)
 		 (diff + 183) / 365);
 }
 
-struct date_mode *date_mode_from_type(enum date_mode_type type)
+struct date_mode date_mode_from_type(enum date_mode_type type)
 {
-	static struct date_mode mode = DATE_MODE_INIT;
+	struct date_mode mode = DATE_MODE_INIT;
 	if (type == DATE_STRFTIME)
 		BUG("cannot create anonymous strftime date_mode struct");
 	mode.type = type;
-	return &mode;
+	return mode;
 }
 
 static void show_date_normal(struct strbuf *buf, timestamp_t time, struct tm *tm, int tz, struct tm *human_tm, int human_tz, int local)
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ static void show_date_normal(struct strbuf *buf, timestamp_t time, struct tm *tm
 		strbuf_addf(buf, " %+05d", tz);
 }
 
-const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int tz, const struct date_mode *mode)
+const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int tz, struct date_mode mode)
 {
 	struct tm *tm;
 	struct tm tmbuf = { 0 };
@@ -291,13 +291,13 @@ const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int tz, const struct date_mode *mode)
 	int human_tz = -1;
 	static struct strbuf timebuf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
-	if (mode->type == DATE_UNIX) {
+	if (mode.type == DATE_UNIX) {
 		strbuf_reset(&timebuf);
 		strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%"PRItime, time);
 		return timebuf.buf;
 	}
 
-	if (mode->type == DATE_HUMAN) {
+	if (mode.type == DATE_HUMAN) {
 		struct timeval now;
 
 		get_time(&now);
@@ -306,22 +306,22 @@ const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int tz, const struct date_mode *mode)
 		human_tz = local_time_tzoffset(now.tv_sec, &human_tm);
 	}
 
-	if (mode->local)
+	if (mode.local)
 		tz = local_tzoffset(time);
 
-	if (mode->type == DATE_RAW) {
+	if (mode.type == DATE_RAW) {
 		strbuf_reset(&timebuf);
 		strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%"PRItime" %+05d", time, tz);
 		return timebuf.buf;
 	}
 
-	if (mode->type == DATE_RELATIVE) {
+	if (mode.type == DATE_RELATIVE) {
 		strbuf_reset(&timebuf);
 		show_date_relative(time, &timebuf);
 		return timebuf.buf;
 	}
 
-	if (mode->local)
+	if (mode.local)
 		tm = time_to_tm_local(time, &tmbuf);
 	else
 		tm = time_to_tm(time, tz, &tmbuf);
@@ -331,17 +331,17 @@ const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int tz, const struct date_mode *mode)
 	}
 
 	strbuf_reset(&timebuf);
-	if (mode->type == DATE_SHORT)
+	if (mode.type == DATE_SHORT)
 		strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%04d-%02d-%02d", tm->tm_year + 1900,
 				tm->tm_mon + 1, tm->tm_mday);
-	else if (mode->type == DATE_ISO8601)
+	else if (mode.type == DATE_ISO8601)
 		strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d:%02d %+05d",
 				tm->tm_year + 1900,
 				tm->tm_mon + 1,
 				tm->tm_mday,
 				tm->tm_hour, tm->tm_min, tm->tm_sec,
 				tz);
-	else if (mode->type == DATE_ISO8601_STRICT) {
+	else if (mode.type == DATE_ISO8601_STRICT) {
 		strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%04d-%02d-%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d",
 				tm->tm_year + 1900,
 				tm->tm_mon + 1,
@@ -354,16 +354,16 @@ const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int tz, const struct date_mode *mode)
 			tz = abs(tz);
 			strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%02d:%02d", tz / 100, tz % 100);
 		}
-	} else if (mode->type == DATE_RFC2822)
+	} else if (mode.type == DATE_RFC2822)
 		strbuf_addf(&timebuf, "%.3s, %d %.3s %d %02d:%02d:%02d %+05d",
 			weekday_names[tm->tm_wday], tm->tm_mday,
 			month_names[tm->tm_mon], tm->tm_year + 1900,
 			tm->tm_hour, tm->tm_min, tm->tm_sec, tz);
-	else if (mode->type == DATE_STRFTIME)
-		strbuf_addftime(&timebuf, mode->strftime_fmt, tm, tz,
-				!mode->local);
+	else if (mode.type == DATE_STRFTIME)
+		strbuf_addftime(&timebuf, mode.strftime_fmt, tm, tz,
+				!mode.local);
 	else
-		show_date_normal(&timebuf, time, tm, tz, &human_tm, human_tz, mode->local);
+		show_date_normal(&timebuf, time, tm, tz, &human_tm, human_tz, mode.local);
 	return timebuf.buf;
 }
 
diff --git a/date.h b/date.h
index 6136212a19..0747864fd7 100644
--- a/date.h
+++ b/date.h
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ enum date_mode_type {
 
 struct date_mode {
 	enum date_mode_type type;
-	const char *strftime_fmt;
 	int local;
+	const char *strftime_fmt;
 };
 
 #define DATE_MODE_INIT { \
@@ -36,14 +36,14 @@ struct date_mode {
  *   show_date(t, tz, DATE_MODE(NORMAL));
  */
 #define DATE_MODE(t) date_mode_from_type(DATE_##t)
-struct date_mode *date_mode_from_type(enum date_mode_type type);
+struct date_mode date_mode_from_type(enum date_mode_type type);
 
 /**
  * Format <'time', 'timezone'> into static memory according to 'mode'
  * and return it. The mode is an initialized "struct date_mode"
  * (usually from the DATE_MODE() macro).
  */
-const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int timezone, const struct date_mode *mode);
+const char *show_date(timestamp_t time, int timezone, struct date_mode mode);
 
 /**
  * Parse a date format for later use with show_date().
diff --git a/gpg-interface.c b/gpg-interface.c
index 95e764acb1..1ee2c94a3b 100644
--- a/gpg-interface.c
+++ b/gpg-interface.c
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ static int verify_ssh_signed_buffer(struct signature_check *sigc,
 
 	if (sigc->payload_timestamp)
 		strbuf_addf(&verify_time, "-Overify-time=%s",
-			show_date(sigc->payload_timestamp, 0, &verify_date_mode));
+			show_date(sigc->payload_timestamp, 0, verify_date_mode));
 
 	/* Find the principal from the signers */
 	strvec_pushl(&ssh_keygen.args, fmt->program,
diff --git a/log-tree.c b/log-tree.c
index e5438b029d..5a14eecbdd 100644
--- a/log-tree.c
+++ b/log-tree.c
@@ -777,7 +777,7 @@ void show_log(struct rev_info *opt)
 			 */
 			show_reflog_message(opt->reflog_info,
 					    opt->commit_format == CMIT_FMT_ONELINE,
-					    &opt->date_mode,
+					    opt->date_mode,
 					    opt->date_mode_explicit);
 			if (opt->commit_format == CMIT_FMT_ONELINE)
 				return;
diff --git a/oss-fuzz/fuzz-date.c b/oss-fuzz/fuzz-date.c
index 036378b946..9619dae40e 100644
--- a/oss-fuzz/fuzz-date.c
+++ b/oss-fuzz/fuzz-date.c
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ int LLVMFuzzerTestOneInput(const uint8_t *data, size_t size)
 	int16_t tz;
 	timestamp_t ts;
 	enum date_mode_type dmtype;
-	struct date_mode *dm;
+	struct date_mode dm;
 
 	if (size <= 4)
 		/*
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ int LLVMFuzzerTestOneInput(const uint8_t *data, size_t size)
 	free(str);
 
 	dm = date_mode_from_type(dmtype);
-	dm->local = local;
+	dm.local = local;
 	show_date(ts, (int)tz, dm);
 
-	date_mode_release(dm);
+	date_mode_release(&dm);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index bdbed4295a..18f817604b 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ static void add_rfc2047(struct strbuf *sb, const char *line, size_t len,
 }
 
 const char *show_ident_date(const struct ident_split *ident,
-			    const struct date_mode *mode)
+			    struct date_mode mode)
 {
 	timestamp_t date = 0;
 	long tz = 0;
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ void pp_user_info(struct pretty_print_context *pp,
 	switch (pp->fmt) {
 	case CMIT_FMT_MEDIUM:
 		strbuf_addf(sb, "Date:   %s\n",
-			    show_ident_date(&ident, &pp->date_mode));
+			    show_ident_date(&ident, pp->date_mode));
 		break;
 	case CMIT_FMT_EMAIL:
 	case CMIT_FMT_MBOXRD:
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ void pp_user_info(struct pretty_print_context *pp,
 		break;
 	case CMIT_FMT_FULLER:
 		strbuf_addf(sb, "%sDate: %s\n", what,
-			    show_ident_date(&ident, &pp->date_mode));
+			    show_ident_date(&ident, pp->date_mode));
 		break;
 	default:
 		/* notin' */
@@ -775,7 +775,7 @@ static int mailmap_name(const char **email, size_t *email_len,
 
 static size_t format_person_part(struct strbuf *sb, char part,
 				 const char *msg, int len,
-				 const struct date_mode *dmode)
+				 struct date_mode dmode)
 {
 	/* currently all placeholders have same length */
 	const int placeholder_len = 2;
@@ -1034,7 +1034,7 @@ static void rewrap_message_tail(struct strbuf *sb,
 static int format_reflog_person(struct strbuf *sb,
 				char part,
 				struct reflog_walk_info *log,
-				const struct date_mode *dmode)
+				struct date_mode dmode)
 {
 	const char *ident;
 
@@ -1602,7 +1602,7 @@ static size_t format_commit_one(struct strbuf *sb, /* in UTF-8 */
 			if (c->pretty_ctx->reflog_info)
 				get_reflog_selector(sb,
 						    c->pretty_ctx->reflog_info,
-						    &c->pretty_ctx->date_mode,
+						    c->pretty_ctx->date_mode,
 						    c->pretty_ctx->date_mode_explicit,
 						    (placeholder[1] == 'd'));
 			return 2;
@@ -1617,7 +1617,7 @@ static size_t format_commit_one(struct strbuf *sb, /* in UTF-8 */
 			return format_reflog_person(sb,
 						    placeholder[1],
 						    c->pretty_ctx->reflog_info,
-						    &c->pretty_ctx->date_mode);
+						    c->pretty_ctx->date_mode);
 		}
 		return 0;	/* unknown %g placeholder */
 	case 'N':
@@ -1712,11 +1712,11 @@ static size_t format_commit_one(struct strbuf *sb, /* in UTF-8 */
 	case 'a':	/* author ... */
 		return format_person_part(sb, placeholder[1],
 				   msg + c->author.off, c->author.len,
-				   &c->pretty_ctx->date_mode);
+				   c->pretty_ctx->date_mode);
 	case 'c':	/* committer ... */
 		return format_person_part(sb, placeholder[1],
 				   msg + c->committer.off, c->committer.len,
-				   &c->pretty_ctx->date_mode);
+				   c->pretty_ctx->date_mode);
 	case 'e':	/* encoding */
 		if (c->commit_encoding)
 			strbuf_addstr(sb, c->commit_encoding);
diff --git a/pretty.h b/pretty.h
index 421209e9ec..0d419ee24e 100644
--- a/pretty.h
+++ b/pretty.h
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ int format_set_trailers_options(struct process_trailer_options *opts,
  * a well-known sentinel date if they appear bogus.
  */
 const char *show_ident_date(const struct ident_split *id,
-			    const struct date_mode *mode);
+			    struct date_mode mode);
 
 
 #endif /* PRETTY_H */
diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 03542d0236..59ad6f54dd 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -1627,7 +1627,7 @@ static void grab_date(const char *buf, struct atom_value *v, const char *atomnam
 	tz = strtol(zone, NULL, 10);
 	if ((tz == LONG_MIN || tz == LONG_MAX) && errno == ERANGE)
 		goto bad;
-	v->s = xstrdup(show_date(timestamp, tz, &date_mode));
+	v->s = xstrdup(show_date(timestamp, tz, date_mode));
 	v->value = timestamp;
 	date_mode_release(&date_mode);
 	return;
diff --git a/reflog-walk.c b/reflog-walk.c
index d216f6f966..66484f4f32 100644
--- a/reflog-walk.c
+++ b/reflog-walk.c
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ int add_reflog_for_walk(struct reflog_walk_info *info,
 
 void get_reflog_selector(struct strbuf *sb,
 			 struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info,
-			 const struct date_mode *dmode, int force_date,
+			 struct date_mode dmode, int force_date,
 			 int shorten)
 {
 	struct commit_reflog *commit_reflog = reflog_info->last_commit_reflog;
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ timestamp_t get_reflog_timestamp(struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info)
 }
 
 void show_reflog_message(struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info, int oneline,
-			 const struct date_mode *dmode, int force_date)
+			 struct date_mode dmode, int force_date)
 {
 	if (reflog_info && reflog_info->last_commit_reflog) {
 		struct commit_reflog *commit_reflog = reflog_info->last_commit_reflog;
diff --git a/reflog-walk.h b/reflog-walk.h
index 4d93a26957..989583dc55 100644
--- a/reflog-walk.h
+++ b/reflog-walk.h
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ void reflog_walk_info_release(struct reflog_walk_info *info);
 int add_reflog_for_walk(struct reflog_walk_info *info,
 			struct commit *commit, const char *name);
 void show_reflog_message(struct reflog_walk_info *info, int,
-			 const struct date_mode *, int force_date);
+			 struct date_mode, int force_date);
 void get_reflog_message(struct strbuf *sb,
 			struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info);
 const char *get_reflog_ident(struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info);
 timestamp_t get_reflog_timestamp(struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info);
 void get_reflog_selector(struct strbuf *sb,
 			 struct reflog_walk_info *reflog_info,
-			 const struct date_mode *dmode, int force_date,
+			 struct date_mode dmode, int force_date,
 			 int shorten);
 
 int reflog_walk_empty(struct reflog_walk_info *walk);
diff --git a/t/helper/test-date.c b/t/helper/test-date.c
index 0683d46574..f25512de9a 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-date.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-date.c
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ static void show_dates(const char **argv, const char *format)
 			arg++;
 		tz = atoi(arg);
 
-		printf("%s -> %s\n", *argv, show_date(t, tz, &mode));
+		printf("%s -> %s\n", *argv, show_date(t, tz, mode));
 	}
 
 	date_mode_release(&mode);