diff --git a/common-main.c b/common-main.c
index 353c6ea175..20e55ef7d7 100644
--- a/common-main.c
+++ b/common-main.c
@@ -1,6 +1,27 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "exec_cmd.h"
 
+/*
+ * Many parts of Git have subprograms communicate via pipe, expect the
+ * upstream of a pipe to die with SIGPIPE when the downstream of a
+ * pipe does not need to read all that is written.  Some third-party
+ * programs that ignore or block SIGPIPE for their own reason forget
+ * to restore SIGPIPE handling to the default before spawning Git and
+ * break this carefully orchestrated machinery.
+ *
+ * Restore the way SIGPIPE is handled to default, which is what we
+ * expect.
+ */
+static void restore_sigpipe_to_default(void)
+{
+	sigset_t unblock;
+
+	sigemptyset(&unblock);
+	sigaddset(&unblock, SIGPIPE);
+	sigprocmask(SIG_UNBLOCK, &unblock, NULL);
+	signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_DFL);
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **av)
 {
 	/*
@@ -18,5 +39,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **av)
 
 	argv[0] = git_extract_argv0_path(argv[0]);
 
+	restore_sigpipe_to_default();
+
 	return cmd_main(argc, argv);
 }
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index b65083ca97..ccb24fd26a 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -609,27 +609,6 @@ static int run_argv(int *argcp, const char ***argv)
 	return done_alias;
 }
 
-/*
- * Many parts of Git have subprograms communicate via pipe, expect the
- * upstream of a pipe to die with SIGPIPE when the downstream of a
- * pipe does not need to read all that is written.  Some third-party
- * programs that ignore or block SIGPIPE for their own reason forget
- * to restore SIGPIPE handling to the default before spawning Git and
- * break this carefully orchestrated machinery.
- *
- * Restore the way SIGPIPE is handled to default, which is what we
- * expect.
- */
-static void restore_sigpipe_to_default(void)
-{
-	sigset_t unblock;
-
-	sigemptyset(&unblock);
-	sigaddset(&unblock, SIGPIPE);
-	sigprocmask(SIG_UNBLOCK, &unblock, NULL);
-	signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_DFL);
-}
-
 int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	const char *cmd;
@@ -639,8 +618,6 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	if (!cmd)
 		cmd = "git-help";
 
-	restore_sigpipe_to_default();
-
 	git_setup_gettext();
 
 	trace_command_performance(argv);