diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 19eb6cff86..d3f1234bf0 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	wt_status_collect(&s);
 
 	if (0 <= fd)
-		update_index_if_able(&the_index, &index_lock);
+		repo_update_index_if_able(the_repository, &index_lock);
 
 	if (s.relative_paths)
 		s.prefix = prefix;
diff --git a/builtin/describe.c b/builtin/describe.c
index cc118448ee..bc97e50650 100644
--- a/builtin/describe.c
+++ b/builtin/describe.c
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@ int cmd_describe(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				      NULL, NULL, NULL);
 			fd = hold_locked_index(&index_lock, 0);
 			if (0 <= fd)
-				update_index_if_able(&the_index, &index_lock);
+				repo_update_index_if_able(the_repository, &index_lock);
 
 			repo_init_revisions(the_repository, &revs, prefix);
 			argv_array_pushv(&args, diff_index_args);
diff --git a/builtin/diff.c b/builtin/diff.c
index f0393bba23..ec78920ee2 100644
--- a/builtin/diff.c
+++ b/builtin/diff.c
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ static void refresh_index_quietly(void)
 	discard_cache();
 	read_cache();
 	refresh_cache(REFRESH_QUIET|REFRESH_UNMERGED);
-	update_index_if_able(&the_index, &lock_file);
+	repo_update_index_if_able(the_repository, &lock_file);
 }
 
 static int builtin_diff_files(struct rev_info *revs, int argc, const char **argv)
diff --git a/builtin/rebase.c b/builtin/rebase.c
index ce5f5b5a17..7124e66d00 100644
--- a/builtin/rebase.c
+++ b/builtin/rebase.c
@@ -1020,8 +1020,7 @@ int cmd_rebase(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		refresh_index(the_repository->index, REFRESH_QUIET, NULL, NULL,
 			      NULL);
 		if (0 <= fd)
-			update_index_if_able(the_repository->index,
-					     &lock_file);
+			repo_update_index_if_able(the_repository, &lock_file);
 		rollback_lock_file(&lock_file);
 
 		if (has_unstaged_changes(the_repository, 1)) {
@@ -1378,7 +1377,7 @@ int cmd_rebase(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		fd = hold_locked_index(&lock_file, 0);
 		refresh_cache(REFRESH_QUIET);
 		if (0 <= fd)
-			update_index_if_able(&the_index, &lock_file);
+			repo_update_index_if_able(the_repository, &lock_file);
 		rollback_lock_file(&lock_file);
 
 		if (has_unstaged_changes(the_repository, 1) ||
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 3715808f52..702c5bfbb3 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -823,12 +823,6 @@ extern void fill_stat_cache_info(struct cache_entry *ce, struct stat *st);
 extern int refresh_index(struct index_state *, unsigned int flags, const struct pathspec *pathspec, char *seen, const char *header_msg);
 extern struct cache_entry *refresh_cache_entry(struct index_state *, struct cache_entry *, unsigned int);
 
-/*
- * Opportunistically update the index but do not complain if we can't.
- * The lockfile is always committed or rolled back.
- */
-extern void update_index_if_able(struct index_state *, struct lock_file *);
-
 extern void set_alternate_index_output(const char *);
 
 extern int verify_index_checksum;
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index afbf976107..61cc0571da 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -2654,9 +2654,9 @@ out:
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int verify_index(const struct index_state *istate)
+static int repo_verify_index(struct repository *repo)
 {
-	return verify_index_from(istate, get_index_file());
+	return verify_index_from(repo->index, repo->index_file);
 }
 
 static int has_racy_timestamp(struct index_state *istate)
@@ -2672,11 +2672,13 @@ static int has_racy_timestamp(struct index_state *istate)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void update_index_if_able(struct index_state *istate, struct lock_file *lockfile)
+void repo_update_index_if_able(struct repository *repo,
+			       struct lock_file *lockfile)
 {
-	if ((istate->cache_changed || has_racy_timestamp(istate)) &&
-	    verify_index(istate))
-		write_locked_index(istate, lockfile, COMMIT_LOCK);
+	if ((repo->index->cache_changed ||
+	     has_racy_timestamp(repo->index)) &&
+	    repo_verify_index(repo))
+		write_locked_index(repo->index, lockfile, COMMIT_LOCK);
 	else
 		rollback_lock_file(lockfile);
 }
diff --git a/repository.h b/repository.h
index cc3879add4..6fe1c089db 100644
--- a/repository.h
+++ b/repository.h
@@ -140,5 +140,11 @@ int repo_read_index_preload(struct repository *,
 			    const struct pathspec *pathspec,
 			    unsigned refresh_flags);
 int repo_read_index_unmerged(struct repository *);
+/*
+ * Opportunistically update the index but do not complain if we can't.
+ * The lockfile is always committed or rolled back.
+ */
+void repo_update_index_if_able(struct repository *, struct lock_file *);
+
 
 #endif /* REPOSITORY_H */
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index becf78b04f..1f564b12d2 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -2378,7 +2378,7 @@ int require_clean_work_tree(struct repository *r,
 	fd = repo_hold_locked_index(r, &lock_file, 0);
 	refresh_index(r->index, REFRESH_QUIET, NULL, NULL, NULL);
 	if (0 <= fd)
-		update_index_if_able(r->index, &lock_file);
+		repo_update_index_if_able(r, &lock_file);
 	rollback_lock_file(&lock_file);
 
 	if (has_unstaged_changes(r, ignore_submodules)) {