diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index c9fa3df7f5..0822c3b8be 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -1097,6 +1097,11 @@ void overlay_tree_on_cache(const char *tree_name, const char *prefix);
 char *alias_lookup(const char *alias);
 int split_cmdline(char *cmdline, const char ***argv);
 
+/* git.c */
+struct startup_info {
+};
+extern struct startup_info *startup_info;
+
 /* builtin/merge.c */
 int checkout_fast_forward(const unsigned char *from, const unsigned char *to);
 
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 83d38d3c23..eeb26876a1 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 char *notes_ref_name;
 int grafts_replace_parents = 1;
 int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+struct startup_info *startup_info;
 
 /* Parallel index stat data preload? */
 int core_preload_index = 0;
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index f37028b3b7..c4b6dbea36 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ const char git_usage_string[] =
 const char git_more_info_string[] =
 	"See 'git help COMMAND' for more information on a specific command.";
 
+static struct startup_info git_startup_info;
 static int use_pager = -1;
 struct pager_config {
 	const char *cmd;
@@ -489,6 +490,8 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	const char *cmd;
 
+	startup_info = &git_startup_info;
+
 	cmd = git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
 	if (!cmd)
 		cmd = "git-help";