diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 1bcb3df7a2..27d90fe543 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ extern int write_or_whine_pipe(int fd, const void *buf, size_t count, const char
 /* pager.c */
 extern void setup_pager(void);
 extern char *pager_program;
-extern int pager_in_use;
+extern int pager_in_use(void);
 extern int pager_use_color;
 
 extern char *editor_program;
diff --git a/color.c b/color.c
index 7bd424a8f6..7f66c29fae 100644
--- a/color.c
+++ b/color.c
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ int git_config_colorbool(const char *var, const char *value, int stdout_is_tty)
  auto_color:
 	if (stdout_is_tty < 0)
 		stdout_is_tty = isatty(1);
-	if (stdout_is_tty || (pager_in_use && pager_use_color)) {
+	if (stdout_is_tty || (pager_in_use() && pager_use_color)) {
 		char *term = getenv("TERM");
 		if (term && strcmp(term, "dumb"))
 			return 1;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index f3e3d4138d..18a1c4eec4 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ size_t packed_git_window_size = DEFAULT_PACKED_GIT_WINDOW_SIZE;
 size_t packed_git_limit = DEFAULT_PACKED_GIT_LIMIT;
 size_t delta_base_cache_limit = 16 * 1024 * 1024;
 char *pager_program;
-int pager_in_use;
 int pager_use_color = 1;
 char *editor_program;
 char *excludes_file;
diff --git a/git-svn.perl b/git-svn.perl
index 9f884eb213..1c42c558c4 100755
--- a/git-svn.perl
+++ b/git-svn.perl
@@ -3969,39 +3969,7 @@ sub cmt_showable {
 }
 
 sub log_use_color {
-	return 1 if $color;
-	my ($dc, $dcvar);
-	$dcvar = 'color.diff';
-	$dc = `git-config --get $dcvar`;
-	if ($dc eq '') {
-		# nothing at all; fallback to "diff.color"
-		$dcvar = 'diff.color';
-		$dc = `git-config --get $dcvar`;
-	}
-	chomp($dc);
-	if ($dc eq 'auto') {
-		my $pc;
-		$pc = `git-config --get color.pager`;
-		if ($pc eq '') {
-			# does not have it -- fallback to pager.color
-			$pc = `git-config --bool --get pager.color`;
-		}
-		else {
-			$pc = `git-config --bool --get color.pager`;
-			if ($?) {
-				$pc = 'false';
-			}
-		}
-		chomp($pc);
-		if (-t *STDOUT || (defined $pager && $pc eq 'true')) {
-			return ($ENV{TERM} && $ENV{TERM} ne 'dumb');
-		}
-		return 0;
-	}
-	return 0 if $dc eq 'never';
-	return 1 if $dc eq 'always';
-	chomp($dc = `git-config --bool --get $dcvar`);
-	return ($dc eq 'true');
+	return $color || Git->repository->get_colorbool('color.diff');
 }
 
 sub git_svn_log_cmd {
@@ -4060,6 +4028,7 @@ sub config_pager {
 	} elsif (length $pager == 0 || $pager eq 'cat') {
 		$pager = undef;
 	}
+	$ENV{GIT_PAGER_IN_USE} = defined($pager);
 }
 
 sub run_pager {
diff --git a/pager.c b/pager.c
index fb7a1a625a..0376953cb1 100644
--- a/pager.c
+++ b/pager.c
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
  * something different on Windows, for example.
  */
 
+static int spawned_pager;
+
 static void run_pager(const char *pager)
 {
 	/*
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ void setup_pager(void)
 	else if (!*pager || !strcmp(pager, "cat"))
 		return;
 
-	pager_in_use = 1; /* means we are emitting to terminal */
+	spawned_pager = 1; /* means we are emitting to terminal */
 
 	if (pipe(fd) < 0)
 		return;
@@ -70,3 +72,14 @@ void setup_pager(void)
 	die("unable to execute pager '%s'", pager);
 	exit(255);
 }
+
+int pager_in_use(void)
+{
+	const char *env;
+
+	if (spawned_pager)
+		return 1;
+
+	env = getenv("GIT_PAGER_IN_USE");
+	return env ? git_config_bool("GIT_PAGER_IN_USE", env) : 0;
+}