diff --git a/builtin/var.c b/builtin/var.c
index 70fdb4dec..0744bb831 100644
--- a/builtin/var.c
+++ b/builtin/var.c
@@ -74,14 +74,9 @@ static int show_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 int cmd_var(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
-	const char *val;
-	int nongit;
-	if (argc != 2) {
+	const char *val = NULL;
+	if (argc != 2)
 		usage(var_usage);
-	}
-
-	setup_git_directory_gently(&nongit);
-	val = NULL;
 
 	if (strcmp(argv[1], "-l") == 0) {
 		git_config(show_config, NULL);
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index 86b0a88d9..89bce6591 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ static void handle_internal_command(int argc, const char **argv)
 		{ "update-ref", cmd_update_ref, RUN_SETUP },
 		{ "update-server-info", cmd_update_server_info, RUN_SETUP },
 		{ "upload-archive", cmd_upload_archive },
-		{ "var", cmd_var },
+		{ "var", cmd_var, RUN_SETUP_GENTLY },
 		{ "verify-tag", cmd_verify_tag, RUN_SETUP },
 		{ "version", cmd_version },
 		{ "whatchanged", cmd_whatchanged, RUN_SETUP | USE_PAGER },