diff --git a/pager.c b/pager.c
index 4921843577..f416d38ac2 100644
--- a/pager.c
+++ b/pager.c
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ static void pager_preexec(void)
 	FD_ZERO(&in);
 	FD_SET(0, &in);
 	select(1, &in, NULL, &in, NULL);
-
-	setenv("LESS", "FRSX", 0);
 }
 #endif
 
@@ -70,6 +68,10 @@ void setup_pager(void)
 	pager_argv[2] = pager;
 	pager_process.argv = pager_argv;
 	pager_process.in = -1;
+	if (!getenv("LESS")) {
+		static const char *env[] = { "LESS=FRSX", NULL };
+		pager_process.env = env;
+	}
 #ifndef __MINGW32__
 	pager_process.preexec_cb = pager_preexec;
 #endif