diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 4d014541ab..f49d9fbac8 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -901,14 +901,6 @@ int use_optional_locks(void);
 extern char comment_line_char;
 extern int auto_comment_line_char;
 
-/* Windows only */
-enum hide_dotfiles_type {
-	HIDE_DOTFILES_FALSE = 0,
-	HIDE_DOTFILES_TRUE,
-	HIDE_DOTFILES_DOTGITONLY
-};
-extern enum hide_dotfiles_type hide_dotfiles;
-
 enum log_refs_config {
 	LOG_REFS_UNSET = -1,
 	LOG_REFS_NONE = 0,
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index 303c2e518c..baac16972c 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "../strbuf.h"
 #include "../run-command.h"
 #include "../cache.h"
+#include "../config.h"
 
 #define HCAST(type, handle) ((type)(intptr_t)handle)
 
@@ -202,8 +203,25 @@ static int ask_yes_no_if_possible(const char *format, ...)
 	}
 }
 
+/* Windows only */
+enum hide_dotfiles_type {
+	HIDE_DOTFILES_FALSE = 0,
+	HIDE_DOTFILES_TRUE,
+	HIDE_DOTFILES_DOTGITONLY
+};
+
+static enum hide_dotfiles_type hide_dotfiles = HIDE_DOTFILES_DOTGITONLY;
+
 int mingw_core_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 {
+	if (!strcmp(var, "core.hidedotfiles")) {
+		if (value && !strcasecmp(value, "dotgitonly"))
+			hide_dotfiles = HIDE_DOTFILES_DOTGITONLY;
+		else
+			hide_dotfiles = git_config_bool(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8b3e0f0c66..221de4bc0f 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1344,14 +1344,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.hidedotfiles")) {
-		if (value && !strcasecmp(value, "dotgitonly"))
-			hide_dotfiles = HIDE_DOTFILES_DOTGITONLY;
-		else
-			hide_dotfiles = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.partialclonefilter")) {
 		return git_config_string(&core_partial_clone_filter_default,
 					 var, value);
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 3f3c8746c2..30ecd4e784 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
 int precomposed_unicode = -1; /* see probe_utf8_pathname_composition() */
 unsigned long pack_size_limit_cfg;
-enum hide_dotfiles_type hide_dotfiles = HIDE_DOTFILES_DOTGITONLY;
 enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates = LOG_REFS_UNSET;
 
 #ifndef PROTECT_HFS_DEFAULT