diff --git a/builtin/am.c b/builtin/am.c
index 259dc1cd1..d003939bc 100644
--- a/builtin/am.c
+++ b/builtin/am.c
@@ -1806,7 +1806,7 @@ static int do_interactive(struct am_state *state)
 
 			if (!pager)
 				pager = "cat";
-			argv_array_push(&cp.args, pager);
+			prepare_pager_args(&cp, pager);
 			argv_array_push(&cp.args, am_path(state, "patch"));
 			run_command(&cp);
 		}
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 26640b421..83b688cca 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -229,7 +229,9 @@ struct cache_entry {
 #error "CE_EXTENDED_FLAGS out of range"
 #endif
 
+/* Forward structure decls */
 struct pathspec;
+struct child_process;
 
 /*
  * Copy the sha1 and stat state of a cache entry from one to
@@ -1685,6 +1687,7 @@ extern int pager_use_color;
 extern int term_columns(void);
 extern int decimal_width(uintmax_t);
 extern int check_pager_config(const char *cmd);
+extern void prepare_pager_args(struct child_process *, const char *pager);
 
 extern const char *editor_program;
 extern const char *askpass_program;
diff --git a/pager.c b/pager.c
index e42507052..4bc048148 100644
--- a/pager.c
+++ b/pager.c
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
  * something different on Windows.
  */
 
-static const char *pager_argv[] = { NULL, NULL };
 static struct child_process pager_process = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
 
 static void wait_for_pager(int in_signal)
@@ -64,6 +63,16 @@ const char *git_pager(int stdout_is_tty)
 	return pager;
 }
 
+void prepare_pager_args(struct child_process *pager_process, const char *pager)
+{
+	argv_array_push(&pager_process->args, pager);
+	pager_process->use_shell = 1;
+	if (!getenv("LESS"))
+		argv_array_push(&pager_process->env_array, "LESS=FRX");
+	if (!getenv("LV"))
+		argv_array_push(&pager_process->env_array, "LV=-c");
+}
+
 void setup_pager(void)
 {
 	const char *pager = git_pager(isatty(1));
@@ -80,14 +89,8 @@ void setup_pager(void)
 	setenv("GIT_PAGER_IN_USE", "true", 1);
 
 	/* spawn the pager */
-	pager_argv[0] = pager;
-	pager_process.use_shell = 1;
-	pager_process.argv = pager_argv;
+	prepare_pager_args(&pager_process, pager);
 	pager_process.in = -1;
-	if (!getenv("LESS"))
-		argv_array_push(&pager_process.env_array, "LESS=FRX");
-	if (!getenv("LV"))
-		argv_array_push(&pager_process.env_array, "LV=-c");
 	argv_array_push(&pager_process.env_array, "GIT_PAGER_IN_USE");
 	if (start_command(&pager_process))
 		return;