diff --git a/attr.c b/attr.c
index 4999b7e09da930f7701e6fbd22306531c6f67ca8..08deec22c29d9775cb3d33e5f97d044036e45154 100644
--- a/attr.c
+++ b/attr.c
@@ -879,14 +879,6 @@ const char *git_attr_system_file(void)
 	return system_wide;
 }
 
-const char *git_attr_global_file(void)
-{
-	if (!git_attributes_file)
-		git_attributes_file = xdg_config_home("attributes");
-
-	return git_attributes_file;
-}
-
 int git_attr_system_is_enabled(void)
 {
 	return !git_env_bool("GIT_ATTR_NOSYSTEM", 0);
@@ -927,8 +919,8 @@ static void bootstrap_attr_stack(struct index_state *istate,
 	}
 
 	/* home directory */
-	if (git_attr_global_file()) {
-		e = read_attr_from_file(git_attr_global_file(), flags);
+	if (repo_settings_get_attributesfile_path(istate->repo)) {
+		e = read_attr_from_file(repo_settings_get_attributesfile_path(istate->repo), flags);
 		push_stack(stack, e, NULL, 0);
 	}
 
diff --git a/attr.h b/attr.h
index a04a5210921e222551a48398a7b098d2c449d368..956ce6ba627419b3305994073695e1c8adebec5d 100644
--- a/attr.h
+++ b/attr.h
@@ -232,9 +232,6 @@ void attr_start(void);
 /* Return the system gitattributes file. */
 const char *git_attr_system_file(void);
 
-/* Return the global gitattributes file, if any. */
-const char *git_attr_global_file(void);
-
 /* Return whether the system gitattributes file is enabled and should be used. */
 int git_attr_system_is_enabled(void);
 
diff --git a/builtin/var.c b/builtin/var.c
index cc3a43cde25a6c1a9f17e5de8959ec870a112f32..fd577f29306988011074bffd1905b06ecd5205a3 100644
--- a/builtin/var.c
+++ b/builtin/var.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static char *git_attr_val_system(int ident_flag UNUSED)
 
 static char *git_attr_val_global(int ident_flag UNUSED)
 {
-	char *file = xstrdup_or_null(git_attr_global_file());
+	char *file = xstrdup_or_null(repo_settings_get_attributesfile_path(the_repository));
 	if (file) {
 		normalize_path_copy(file, file);
 		return file;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index a770b5921d9546818b350157f7b4501db1261f4c..ed7d8f42d991d8bca17df0739de597d31bfc9b45 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ char *git_commit_encoding;
 char *git_log_output_encoding;
 char *apply_default_whitespace;
 char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
-char *git_attributes_file;
 int zlib_compression_level = Z_BEST_SPEED;
 int pack_compression_level = Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION;
 int fsync_object_files = -1;
@@ -363,11 +362,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.attributesfile")) {
-		FREE_AND_NULL(git_attributes_file);
-		return git_config_pathname(&git_attributes_file, var, value);
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.bare")) {
 		is_bare_repository_cfg = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 51898c99cd1e451a47c1a4aae32869cfbddbce45..3512a7072e75b6ce8aa08cc5d847969281d3dc58 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -152,7 +152,6 @@ extern int assume_unchanged;
 extern int warn_on_object_refname_ambiguity;
 extern char *apply_default_whitespace;
 extern char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
-extern char *git_attributes_file;
 extern int zlib_compression_level;
 extern int pack_compression_level;
 extern unsigned long pack_size_limit_cfg;
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 195c24e9c07606f00aa4d02eaf4ad25b6642a67f..d89d7893d496a6c1bb01393fdd98e5353721181b 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "midx.h"
 #include "pack-objects.h"
 #include "setup.h"
+#include "path.h"
 
 static void repo_cfg_bool(struct repository *r, const char *key, int *dest,
 			  int def)
@@ -158,6 +159,7 @@ void repo_settings_clear(struct repository *r)
 	struct repo_settings empty = REPO_SETTINGS_INIT;
 	FREE_AND_NULL(r->settings.fsmonitor);
 	FREE_AND_NULL(r->settings.hooks_path);
+	FREE_AND_NULL(r->settings.git_attributes_file);
 	r->settings = empty;
 }
 
@@ -230,3 +232,10 @@ void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo)
 {
 	repo->settings.shared_repository_initialized = 0;
 }
+const char *repo_settings_get_attributesfile_path(struct repository *repo) {
+	if (!repo->settings.git_attributes_file) {
+		if (repo_config_get_pathname(repo, "core.attributesfile", &repo->settings.git_attributes_file))
+			repo->settings.git_attributes_file = xdg_config_home("attributes");
+	}
+	return repo->settings.git_attributes_file;
+}
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index d477885561449727db7fbc2ca8ece2280c4e7610..362f35526727fa87f4441047cfcf73e02d59ea9e 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	char *git_attributes_file;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
@@ -99,4 +100,11 @@ int repo_settings_get_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 void repo_settings_set_shared_repository(struct repository *repo, int value);
 void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 
+/*
+ * Read the value for "core.attributesfile".
+ * Defaults to xdg_config_home("attributes") if the core.attributesfile
+ * isn't available.
+ */
+const char *repo_settings_get_attributesfile_path(struct repository *repo);
+
 #endif /* REPO_SETTINGS_H */