diff --git a/eeshow/Makefile b/eeshow/Makefile
index f37033e..9ff2976 100644
--- a/eeshow/Makefile
+++ b/eeshow/Makefile
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 NAME = eeshow
 OBJS = main.o sch-parse.o sch-render.o lib-parse.o lib-render.o \
        gui.o gui-over.o gui-aoi.o \
-       file.o git-file.o git-hist.o \
+       file.o git-util.o git-file.o git-hist.o \
        style.o fig.o record.o cro.o diff.o gfx.o dwg.o text.o misc.o
 
 CFLAGS = -g  -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wshadow \
diff --git a/eeshow/git-file.c b/eeshow/git-file.c
index 7dc75a5..21810c0 100644
--- a/eeshow/git-file.c
+++ b/eeshow/git-file.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "util.h"
 #include "main.h"
 #include "file.h"
+#include "git-util.h"
 #include "git-file.h"
 
 
@@ -421,23 +422,12 @@ static bool try_related(struct vcs_git *vcs_git)
 }
 
 
-void vcs_git_init(void)
-{
-	static bool initialized = 0;
-
-	if (!initialized) {
-		git_libgit2_init();
-		initialized = 1;
-	}
-}
-
-
 struct vcs_git *vcs_git_open(const char *revision, const char *name,
     const struct vcs_git *related)
 {
 	struct vcs_git *vcs_git = alloc_type(struct vcs_git);
 
-	vcs_git_init();
+	git_init_once();
 
 	vcs_git->name = stralloc(name);
 	vcs_git->revision = revision ? stralloc(revision) : NULL;
diff --git a/eeshow/git-hist.c b/eeshow/git-hist.c
index 53e66c5..3367b9d 100644
--- a/eeshow/git-hist.c
+++ b/eeshow/git-hist.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #include "util.h"
 #include "main.h"
+#include "git-util.h"
 #include "git-file.h"
 #include "git-hist.h"
 
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ bool vcs_git_try(const char *path)
 {
 	git_repository *repo;
 
-	vcs_git_init();
+	git_init_once();
 
 	if (git_repository_open_ext(&repo, path,
 	    GIT_REPOSITORY_OPEN_CROSS_FS, NULL))
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ struct hist *vcs_git_hist(const char *path)
 
 	head = new_commit(0);
 
-	vcs_git_init();
+	git_init_once();
 
 	if (git_repository_open_ext(&repo, path,
 	    GIT_REPOSITORY_OPEN_CROSS_FS, NULL)) {
diff --git a/eeshow/git-util.c b/eeshow/git-util.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71cf6cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eeshow/git-util.c
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * git-util.c - Git utility functions
+ *
+ * Written 2016 by Werner Almesberger
+ * Copyright 2016 by Werner Almesberger
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ */
+
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
+#include <git2.h>
+
+#include "git-util.h"
+
+
+/*
+ * Git documentation says that git_libgit2_init can be called more then once
+ * but doesn't quite what happens then, e.g., whether references obtained
+ * before an init (except for the first, of course) can still be used after
+ * it. So we play it safe and initialize only once.
+ */
+
+void git_init_once(void)
+{
+	static bool initialized = 0;
+
+	if (!initialized) {
+		git_libgit2_init();
+		initialized = 1;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/eeshow/git-util.h b/eeshow/git-util.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..601855a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eeshow/git-util.h
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+ * git-util.h - Git utility functions
+ *
+ * Written 2016 by Werner Almesberger
+ * Copyright 2016 by Werner Almesberger
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ */
+
+#ifndef GIT_UTIL_H
+#define	GIT_UTIL_H
+
+void git_init_once(void);
+
+#endif /* !GIT_UTIL_H */