diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index a917955fbd8..43576ad1265 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -1,10 +1,24 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "string-list.h"
 
+void string_list_init_nodup(struct string_list *list)
+{
+	struct string_list blank = STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP;
+	memcpy(list, &blank, sizeof(*list));
+}
+
+void string_list_init_dup(struct string_list *list)
+{
+	struct string_list blank = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP;
+	memcpy(list, &blank, sizeof(*list));
+}
+
 void string_list_init(struct string_list *list, int strdup_strings)
 {
-	memset(list, 0, sizeof(*list));
-	list->strdup_strings = strdup_strings;
+	if (strdup_strings)
+		string_list_init_dup(list);
+	else
+		string_list_init_nodup(list);
 }
 
 /* if there is no exact match, point to the index where the entry could be
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index 521b9c0748d..0d6b4692396 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -97,8 +97,15 @@ struct string_list {
 /* General functions which work with both sorted and unsorted lists. */
 
 /**
- * Initialize the members of the string_list, set `strdup_strings`
- * member according to the value of the second parameter.
+ * Initialize the members of a string_list pointer in the same way as
+ * the corresponding `STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP` and
+ * `STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP` macros.
+ */
+void string_list_init_nodup(struct string_list *list);
+void string_list_init_dup(struct string_list *list);
+
+/**
+ * TODO remove: For compatibility with any in-flight older API users
  */
 void string_list_init(struct string_list *list, int strdup_strings);