diff --git a/builtin/mailinfo.c b/builtin/mailinfo.c
index a0416610c9..a83f09885a 100644
--- a/builtin/mailinfo.c
+++ b/builtin/mailinfo.c
@@ -12,8 +12,11 @@ static FILE *cmitmsg, *patchfile, *fin, *fout;
 static int keep_subject;
 static int keep_non_patch_brackets_in_subject;
 static const char *metainfo_charset;
-static struct strbuf name = STRBUF_INIT;
-static struct strbuf email = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+struct mailinfo {
+	struct strbuf name;
+	struct strbuf email;
+};
 static char *message_id;
 
 static enum  {
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ static void get_sane_name(struct strbuf *out, struct strbuf *name, struct strbuf
 	strbuf_addbuf(out, src);
 }
 
-static void parse_bogus_from(const struct strbuf *line)
+static void parse_bogus_from(struct mailinfo *mi, const struct strbuf *line)
 {
 	/* John Doe <johndoe> */
 
@@ -61,7 +64,7 @@ static void parse_bogus_from(const struct strbuf *line)
 	/* This is fallback, so do not bother if we already have an
 	 * e-mail address.
 	 */
-	if (email.len)
+	if (mi->email.len)
 		return;
 
 	bra = strchr(line->buf, '<');
@@ -71,16 +74,16 @@ static void parse_bogus_from(const struct strbuf *line)
 	if (!ket)
 		return;
 
-	strbuf_reset(&email);
-	strbuf_add(&email, bra + 1, ket - bra - 1);
+	strbuf_reset(&mi->email);
+	strbuf_add(&mi->email, bra + 1, ket - bra - 1);
 
-	strbuf_reset(&name);
-	strbuf_add(&name, line->buf, bra - line->buf);
-	strbuf_trim(&name);
-	get_sane_name(&name, &name, &email);
+	strbuf_reset(&mi->name);
+	strbuf_add(&mi->name, line->buf, bra - line->buf);
+	strbuf_trim(&mi->name);
+	get_sane_name(&mi->name, &mi->name, &mi->email);
 }
 
-static void handle_from(const struct strbuf *from)
+static void handle_from(struct mailinfo *mi, const struct strbuf *from)
 {
 	char *at;
 	size_t el;
@@ -91,14 +94,14 @@ static void handle_from(const struct strbuf *from)
 
 	at = strchr(f.buf, '@');
 	if (!at) {
-		parse_bogus_from(from);
+		parse_bogus_from(mi, from);
 		return;
 	}
 
 	/*
 	 * If we already have one email, don't take any confusing lines
 	 */
-	if (email.len && strchr(at + 1, '@')) {
+	if (mi->email.len && strchr(at + 1, '@')) {
 		strbuf_release(&f);
 		return;
 	}
@@ -117,8 +120,8 @@ static void handle_from(const struct strbuf *from)
 		at--;
 	}
 	el = strcspn(at, " \n\t\r\v\f>");
-	strbuf_reset(&email);
-	strbuf_add(&email, at, el);
+	strbuf_reset(&mi->email);
+	strbuf_add(&mi->email, at, el);
 	strbuf_remove(&f, at - f.buf, el + (at[el] ? 1 : 0));
 
 	/* The remainder is name.  It could be
@@ -140,7 +143,7 @@ static void handle_from(const struct strbuf *from)
 		strbuf_setlen(&f, f.len - 1);
 	}
 
-	get_sane_name(&name, &f, &email);
+	get_sane_name(&mi->name, &f, &mi->email);
 	strbuf_release(&f);
 }
 
@@ -927,7 +930,7 @@ static void output_header_lines(FILE *fout, const char *hdr, const struct strbuf
 	}
 }
 
-static void handle_info(void)
+static void handle_info(struct mailinfo *mi)
 {
 	struct strbuf *hdr;
 	int i;
@@ -949,9 +952,9 @@ static void handle_info(void)
 			output_header_lines(fout, "Subject", hdr);
 		} else if (!strcmp(header[i], "From")) {
 			cleanup_space(hdr);
-			handle_from(hdr);
-			fprintf(fout, "Author: %s\n", name.buf);
-			fprintf(fout, "Email: %s\n", email.buf);
+			handle_from(mi, hdr);
+			fprintf(fout, "Author: %s\n", mi->name.buf);
+			fprintf(fout, "Email: %s\n", mi->email.buf);
 		} else {
 			cleanup_space(hdr);
 			fprintf(fout, "%s: %s\n", header[i], hdr->buf);
@@ -960,7 +963,8 @@ static void handle_info(void)
 	fprintf(fout, "\n");
 }
 
-static int mailinfo(FILE *in, FILE *out, const char *msg, const char *patch)
+static int mailinfo(struct mailinfo *mi,
+		    FILE *in, FILE *out, const char *msg, const char *patch)
 {
 	int peek;
 	struct strbuf line = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -995,7 +999,7 @@ static int mailinfo(FILE *in, FILE *out, const char *msg, const char *patch)
 	handle_body(&line);
 	fclose(patchfile);
 
-	handle_info();
+	handle_info(mi);
 	strbuf_release(&line);
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -1012,17 +1016,33 @@ static int git_mailinfo_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *unused)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static void setup_mailinfo(struct mailinfo *mi)
+{
+	memset(mi, 0, sizeof(*mi));
+	strbuf_init(&mi->name, 0);
+	strbuf_init(&mi->email, 0);
+	git_config(git_mailinfo_config, &mi);
+}
+
+static void clear_mailinfo(struct mailinfo *mi)
+{
+	strbuf_release(&mi->name);
+	strbuf_release(&mi->email);
+}
+
 static const char mailinfo_usage[] =
 	"git mailinfo [-k | -b] [-m | --message-id] [-u | --encoding=<encoding> | -n] [--scissors | --no-scissors] <msg> <patch> < mail >info";
 
 int cmd_mailinfo(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	const char *def_charset;
+	struct mailinfo mi;
+	int status;
 
 	/* NEEDSWORK: might want to do the optional .git/ directory
 	 * discovery
 	 */
-	git_config(git_mailinfo_config, NULL);
+	setup_mailinfo(&mi);
 
 	def_charset = get_commit_output_encoding();
 	metainfo_charset = def_charset;
@@ -1054,5 +1074,8 @@ int cmd_mailinfo(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (argc != 3)
 		usage(mailinfo_usage);
 
-	return !!mailinfo(stdin, stdout, argv[1], argv[2]);
+	status = !!mailinfo(&mi, stdin, stdout, argv[1], argv[2]);
+	clear_mailinfo(&mi);
+
+	return status;
 }