diff --git a/builtin/cat-file.c b/builtin/cat-file.c
index adc626ce30..0aca6acb75 100644
--- a/builtin/cat-file.c
+++ b/builtin/cat-file.c
@@ -835,8 +835,8 @@ static int batch_one_object_oi(const struct object_id *oid,
 {
 	struct for_each_object_payload *payload = _payload;
 	if (oi && oi->whence == OI_PACKED)
-		return payload->callback(oid, oi->sourcep->u.packed.pack,
-					 oi->sourcep->u.packed.offset,
+		return payload->callback(oid, oi->source_infop->u.packed.pack,
+					 oi->source_infop->u.packed.offset,
 					 payload->payload);
 	return payload->callback(oid, NULL, 0, payload->payload);
 }
@@ -907,9 +907,9 @@ static void batch_each_object(struct batch_options *opt,
 						&payload, flags);
 		}
 	} else {
-		struct object_info_source oi_source;
+		struct odb_source_info source_info;
 		struct object_info oi = {
-			.sourcep = &oi_source,
+			.source_infop = &source_info,
 		};
 
 		for (source = the_repository->objects->sources; source; source = source->next) {
diff --git a/builtin/index-pack.c b/builtin/index-pack.c
index 77af26db8f..fe6e70522d 100644
--- a/builtin/index-pack.c
+++ b/builtin/index-pack.c
@@ -1825,15 +1825,15 @@ static void repack_local_links(void)
 
 	oidset_iter_init(&outgoing_links, &iter);
 	while ((oid = oidset_iter_next(&iter))) {
-		struct object_info_source info_source;
+		struct odb_source_info source_info;
 		struct object_info info = {
-			.sourcep = &info_source,
+			.source_infop = &source_info,
 		};
 
 		if (odb_read_object_info_extended(the_repository->objects, oid, &info, 0))
 			/* Missing; assume it is a promisor object */
 			continue;
-		if (info.whence == OI_PACKED && info_source.u.packed.pack->pack_promisor)
+		if (info.whence == OI_PACKED && source_info.u.packed.pack->pack_promisor)
 			continue;
 
 		if (!cmd.args.nr) {
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 9deb37e9e8..b7ef90f67c 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -4491,8 +4491,8 @@ static int add_object_in_unpacked_pack(const struct object_id *oid,
 				       void *data UNUSED)
 {
 	if (cruft) {
-		add_cruft_object_entry(oid, OBJ_NONE, oi->sourcep->u.packed.pack,
-				       oi->sourcep->u.packed.offset, NULL,
+		add_cruft_object_entry(oid, OBJ_NONE, oi->source_infop->u.packed.pack,
+				       oi->source_infop->u.packed.offset, NULL,
 				       *oi->mtimep);
 	} else {
 		add_object_entry(oid, OBJ_NONE, "", 0);
@@ -4510,10 +4510,10 @@ static void add_objects_in_unpacked_packs(void)
 			 ODB_FOR_EACH_OBJECT_SKIP_IN_CORE_KEPT_PACKS |
 			 ODB_FOR_EACH_OBJECT_SKIP_ON_DISK_KEPT_PACKS,
 	};
-	struct object_info_source oi_source;
+	struct odb_source_info source_info;
 	struct object_info oi = {
 		.mtimep = &mtime,
-		.sourcep = &oi_source,
+		.source_infop = &source_info,
 	};
 
 	odb_prepare_alternates(to_pack.repo->objects);
@@ -5003,14 +5003,14 @@ static int option_parse_cruft_expiration(const struct option *opt UNUSED,
 
 static int is_not_in_promisor_pack_obj(struct object *obj, void *data UNUSED)
 {
-	struct object_info_source info_source;
+	struct odb_source_info source_info;
 	struct object_info info = {
-		.sourcep = &info_source,
+		.source_infop = &source_info,
 	};
 
 	if (odb_read_object_info_extended(the_repository->objects, &obj->oid, &info, 0))
 		BUG("should_include_obj should only be called on existing objects");
-	return info.whence != OI_PACKED || !info_source.u.packed.pack->pack_promisor;
+	return info.whence != OI_PACKED || !source_info.u.packed.pack->pack_promisor;
 }
 
 static int is_not_in_promisor_pack(struct commit *commit, void *data) {
diff --git a/odb.c b/odb.c
index 99f4e7551c..34c35c47a5 100644
--- a/odb.c
+++ b/odb.c
@@ -692,8 +692,8 @@ static int oid_object_info_convert(struct repository *r,
 		}
 	}
 	input_oi->whence = new_oi.whence;
-	if (input_oi->sourcep)
-		*input_oi->sourcep = *new_oi.sourcep;
+	if (input_oi->source_infop)
+		*input_oi->source_infop = *new_oi.source_infop;
 	return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/odb.h b/odb.h
index 770900289a..659bf8afe1 100644
--- a/odb.h
+++ b/odb.h
@@ -249,10 +249,13 @@ int odb_pretend_object(struct object_database *odb,
 		       struct object_id *oid);
 
 /*
- * Object information that can be used to uniquely identify an object and learn
- * more about how exactly it is stored.
+ * Object database source information that can be used to uniquely identify an
+ * object and learn more about how exactly it is stored.
  */
-struct object_info_source {
+struct odb_source_info {
+	/* The source that this object has been looked up from. */
+	struct odb_source *source;
+
 	/*
 	 * Backend-specific information about the specific object. This can be
 	 * used for example to uniquely identify a given object in case it
@@ -307,7 +310,7 @@ struct object_info {
 	 * object lookups in case the same object exists in multiple sources,
 	 * or multiple times in the same source.
 	 */
-	struct object_info_source *sourcep;
+	struct odb_source_info *source_infop;
 
 	/* Response */
 	enum {
diff --git a/odb/source-inmemory.c b/odb/source-inmemory.c
index e004566d76..1d173bfa46 100644
--- a/odb/source-inmemory.c
+++ b/odb/source-inmemory.c
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ static void populate_object_info(struct odb_source_inmemory *source,
 		*oi->contentp = xmemdupz(object->buf, object->size);
 	if (oi->mtimep)
 		*oi->mtimep = 0;
+	if (oi->source_infop)
+		oi->source_infop->source = &source->base;
+
 	oi->whence = OI_CACHED;
 }
 
diff --git a/odb/source-loose.c b/odb/source-loose.c
index 66e6bb8d3f..c254957602 100644
--- a/odb/source-loose.c
+++ b/odb/source-loose.c
@@ -196,6 +196,8 @@ out:
 			oi->typep = NULL;
 		if (oi->delta_base_oid)
 			oidclr(oi->delta_base_oid, loose->base.odb->repo->hash_algo);
+		if (oi->source_infop && !ret)
+			oi->source_infop->source = &loose->base;
 		if (!ret)
 			oi->whence = OI_LOOSE;
 	}
diff --git a/packfile.c b/packfile.c
index 688c410b35..ce51d1e5a3 100644
--- a/packfile.c
+++ b/packfile.c
@@ -1324,7 +1324,7 @@ static void add_delta_base_cache(struct packed_git *p, off_t base_offset,
 	hashmap_add(&delta_base_cache, &ent->ent);
 }
 
-int packed_object_info_with_index_pos(struct odb_source_packed *source UNUSED,
+int packed_object_info_with_index_pos(struct odb_source_packed *source,
 				      struct packed_git *p, off_t obj_offset,
 				      uint32_t *maybe_index_pos, struct object_info *oi)
 {
@@ -1423,22 +1423,26 @@ int packed_object_info_with_index_pos(struct odb_source_packed *source UNUSED,
 
 	oi->whence = OI_PACKED;
 
-	if (oi->sourcep) {
-		oi->sourcep->u.packed.offset = obj_offset;
-		oi->sourcep->u.packed.pack = p;
+	if (oi->source_infop) {
+		if (!source)
+			BUG("cannot request source without an owning source");
+		oi->source_infop->source = &source->base;
+
+		oi->source_infop->u.packed.offset = obj_offset;
+		oi->source_infop->u.packed.pack = p;
 
 		switch (type) {
 		case OBJ_NONE:
-			oi->sourcep->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_UNKNOWN;
+			oi->source_infop->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_UNKNOWN;
 			break;
 		case OBJ_REF_DELTA:
-			oi->sourcep->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_REF_DELTA;
+			oi->source_infop->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_REF_DELTA;
 			break;
 		case OBJ_OFS_DELTA:
-			oi->sourcep->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_OFS_DELTA;
+			oi->source_infop->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_OFS_DELTA;
 			break;
 		default:
-			oi->sourcep->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_FULL;
+			oi->source_infop->u.packed.type = PACKED_OBJECT_TYPE_FULL;
 			break;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/reachable.c b/reachable.c
index 2fc5b82d62..bf76b48fc5 100644
--- a/reachable.c
+++ b/reachable.c
@@ -235,8 +235,8 @@ static int add_recent_object(const struct object_id *oid,
 	add_pending_object(data->revs, obj, "");
 	if (data->cb) {
 		if (oi->whence == OI_PACKED)
-			data->cb(obj, oi->sourcep->u.packed.pack,
-				 oi->sourcep->u.packed.offset, *oi->mtimep);
+			data->cb(obj, oi->source_infop->u.packed.pack,
+				 oi->source_infop->u.packed.offset, *oi->mtimep);
 		else
 			data->cb(obj, NULL, 0, *oi->mtimep);
 	}
@@ -253,11 +253,11 @@ int add_unseen_recent_objects_to_traversal(struct rev_info *revs,
 	unsigned flags;
 	enum object_type type;
 	time_t mtime;
-	struct object_info_source oi_source;
+	struct odb_source_info source_info;
 	struct object_info oi = {
 		.mtimep = &mtime,
 		.typep = &type,
-		.sourcep = &oi_source,
+		.source_infop = &source_info,
 	};
 	int r;