diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index 7ce04b71dd..4258ac1792 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -3793,7 +3793,7 @@ static int pack_mtime_cmp(const void *_a, const void *_b)
 		return 0;
 }
 
-static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(void)
+static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(struct rev_info *revs)
 {
 	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct string_list include_packs = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
@@ -3801,24 +3801,6 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(void)
 	struct string_list_item *item = NULL;
 
 	struct packed_git *p;
-	struct rev_info revs;
-
-	repo_init_revisions(the_repository, &revs, NULL);
-	/*
-	 * Use a revision walk to fill in the namehash of objects in the include
-	 * packs. To save time, we'll avoid traversing through objects that are
-	 * in excluded packs.
-	 *
-	 * That may cause us to avoid populating all of the namehash fields of
-	 * all included objects, but our goal is best-effort, since this is only
-	 * an optimization during delta selection.
-	 */
-	revs.no_kept_objects = 1;
-	revs.keep_pack_cache_flags |= IN_CORE_KEEP_PACKS;
-	revs.blob_objects = 1;
-	revs.tree_objects = 1;
-	revs.tag_objects = 1;
-	revs.ignore_missing_links = 1;
 
 	while (strbuf_getline(&buf, stdin) != EOF) {
 		if (!buf.len)
@@ -3888,10 +3870,44 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(void)
 		struct packed_git *p = item->util;
 		for_each_object_in_pack(p,
 					add_object_entry_from_pack,
-					&revs,
+					revs,
 					FOR_EACH_OBJECT_PACK_ORDER);
 	}
 
+	strbuf_release(&buf);
+	string_list_clear(&include_packs, 0);
+	string_list_clear(&exclude_packs, 0);
+}
+
+static void add_unreachable_loose_objects(void);
+
+static void read_stdin_packs(int rev_list_unpacked)
+{
+	struct rev_info revs;
+
+	repo_init_revisions(the_repository, &revs, NULL);
+	/*
+	 * Use a revision walk to fill in the namehash of objects in the include
+	 * packs. To save time, we'll avoid traversing through objects that are
+	 * in excluded packs.
+	 *
+	 * That may cause us to avoid populating all of the namehash fields of
+	 * all included objects, but our goal is best-effort, since this is only
+	 * an optimization during delta selection.
+	 */
+	revs.no_kept_objects = 1;
+	revs.keep_pack_cache_flags |= IN_CORE_KEEP_PACKS;
+	revs.blob_objects = 1;
+	revs.tree_objects = 1;
+	revs.tag_objects = 1;
+	revs.ignore_missing_links = 1;
+
+	/* avoids adding objects in excluded packs */
+	ignore_packed_keep_in_core = 1;
+	read_packs_list_from_stdin(&revs);
+	if (rev_list_unpacked)
+		add_unreachable_loose_objects();
+
 	if (prepare_revision_walk(&revs))
 		die(_("revision walk setup failed"));
 	traverse_commit_list(&revs,
@@ -3903,21 +3919,6 @@ static void read_packs_list_from_stdin(void)
 			   stdin_packs_found_nr);
 	trace2_data_intmax("pack-objects", the_repository, "stdin_packs_hints",
 			   stdin_packs_hints_nr);
-
-	strbuf_release(&buf);
-	string_list_clear(&include_packs, 0);
-	string_list_clear(&exclude_packs, 0);
-}
-
-static void add_unreachable_loose_objects(void);
-
-static void read_stdin_packs(int rev_list_unpacked)
-{
-	/* avoids adding objects in excluded packs */
-	ignore_packed_keep_in_core = 1;
-	read_packs_list_from_stdin();
-	if (rev_list_unpacked)
-		add_unreachable_loose_objects();
 }
 
 static void add_cruft_object_entry(const struct object_id *oid, enum object_type type,