diff --git a/builtin-pack-objects.c b/builtin-pack-objects.c
index 447d492dbbfb57..827673ce4e81e1 100644
--- a/builtin-pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-pack-objects.c
@@ -1148,8 +1148,6 @@ static void get_object_details(void)
 		sorted_by_offset[i] = objects + i;
 	qsort(sorted_by_offset, nr_objects, sizeof(*sorted_by_offset), pack_offset_sort);
 
-	init_pack_revindex();
-
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_objects; i++)
 		check_object(sorted_by_offset[i]);
 
diff --git a/pack-check.c b/pack-check.c
index f4898732dd8cd8..b99a9171c023ec 100644
--- a/pack-check.c
+++ b/pack-check.c
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ static void show_pack_info(struct packed_git *p)
 
 	nr_objects = p->num_objects;
 	memset(chain_histogram, 0, sizeof(chain_histogram));
-	init_pack_revindex();
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_objects; i++) {
 		const unsigned char *sha1;
diff --git a/pack-revindex.c b/pack-revindex.c
index a8aa2cd6caefe7..cd300bdff5b524 100644
--- a/pack-revindex.c
+++ b/pack-revindex.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static int pack_revindex_ix(struct packed_git *p)
 	return -1 - i;
 }
 
-void init_pack_revindex(void)
+static void init_pack_revindex(void)
 {
 	int num;
 	struct packed_git *p;
@@ -118,9 +118,11 @@ struct revindex_entry *find_pack_revindex(struct packed_git *p, off_t ofs)
 	struct pack_revindex *rix;
 	struct revindex_entry *revindex;
 
+	if (!pack_revindex_hashsz)
+		init_pack_revindex();
 	num = pack_revindex_ix(p);
 	if (num < 0)
-		die("internal error: pack revindex uninitialized");
+		die("internal error: pack revindex fubar");
 
 	rix = &pack_revindex[num];
 	if (!rix->revindex)
diff --git a/pack-revindex.h b/pack-revindex.h
index c3527a75655470..36a514a6cf600e 100644
--- a/pack-revindex.h
+++ b/pack-revindex.h
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ struct revindex_entry {
 	unsigned int nr;
 };
 
-void init_pack_revindex(void);
 struct revindex_entry *find_pack_revindex(struct packed_git *p, off_t ofs);
 
 #endif