diff --git a/apply.c b/apply.c
index 2868cef5ddd..efe2dcb0e62 100644
--- a/apply.c
+++ b/apply.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "apply.h"
 #include "entry.h"
 #include "setup.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "wrapper.h"
 
 struct gitdiff_data {
diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 6f5d82ed3d3..715eeb5048f 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "setup.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "submodule-config.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
 #include "tree.h"
 #include "tree-walk.h"
diff --git a/builtin/update-index.c b/builtin/update-index.c
index 33b00cef151..58bbc80db77 100644
--- a/builtin/update-index.c
+++ b/builtin/update-index.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "setup.h"
 #include "split-index.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
 #include "write-or-die.h"
 
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 71e2fe74c4f..ffec289dc5d 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -593,28 +593,6 @@ int df_name_compare(const char *name1, size_t len1, int mode1,
 int name_compare(const char *name1, size_t len1, const char *name2, size_t len2);
 int cache_name_stage_compare(const char *name1, int len1, int stage1, const char *name2, int len2, int stage2);
 
-struct cache_def {
-	struct strbuf path;
-	int flags;
-	int track_flags;
-	int prefix_len_stat_func;
-};
-#define CACHE_DEF_INIT { \
-	.path = STRBUF_INIT, \
-}
-static inline void cache_def_clear(struct cache_def *cache)
-{
-	strbuf_release(&cache->path);
-}
-
-int has_symlink_leading_path(const char *name, int len);
-int threaded_has_symlink_leading_path(struct cache_def *, const char *, int);
-int check_leading_path(const char *name, int len, int warn_on_lstat_err);
-int has_dirs_only_path(const char *name, int len, int prefix_len);
-void invalidate_lstat_cache(void);
-void schedule_dir_for_removal(const char *name, int len);
-void remove_scheduled_dirs(void);
-
 struct pack_window {
 	struct pack_window *next;
 	unsigned char *base;
diff --git a/compat/mingw.c b/compat/mingw.c
index abbc3faf32f..d06cdc6254f 100644
--- a/compat/mingw.c
+++ b/compat/mingw.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "../config.h"
 #include "../environment.h"
 #include "../trace2.h"
+#include "../symlinks.h"
 #include "../wrapper.h"
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "gettext.h"
diff --git a/diff-lib.c b/diff-lib.c
index d292405a262..60e979dc1bd 100644
--- a/diff-lib.c
+++ b/diff-lib.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "unpack-trees.h"
 #include "refs.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index aa840995c40..ed262fa6e43 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
 #include "setup.h"
 #include "submodule-config.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
 #include "wrapper.h"
 
diff --git a/entry.c b/entry.c
index d89e61fa641..91a540bd29f 100644
--- a/entry.c
+++ b/entry.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include "hex.h"
 #include "streaming.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "progress.h"
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
 #include "entry.h"
diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 9875bdb11cb..d4d2ab05b2e 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "string-list.h"
 #include "submodule-config.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "tag.h"
 #include "tree-walk.h"
 #include "unpack-trees.h"
diff --git a/parallel-checkout.c b/parallel-checkout.c
index 50fd7fe31ef..7f0569cc930 100644
--- a/parallel-checkout.c
+++ b/parallel-checkout.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "run-command.h"
 #include "sigchain.h"
 #include "streaming.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "thread-utils.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
 #include "wrapper.h"
diff --git a/pathspec.c b/pathspec.c
index 6972d515f0c..ec335a214e2 100644
--- a/pathspec.c
+++ b/pathspec.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "attr.h"
 #include "setup.h"
 #include "strvec.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "quote.h"
 
 /*
diff --git a/preload-index.c b/preload-index.c
index 4abf9c983b2..7a26b08c213 100644
--- a/preload-index.c
+++ b/preload-index.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "progress.h"
 #include "thread-utils.h"
 #include "repository.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
 
 /*
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index f225bf44cd0..206c003e558 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "trace2.h"
 #include "varint.h"
 #include "split-index.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "utf8.h"
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
 #include "thread-utils.h"
diff --git a/run-command.c b/run-command.c
index e64bb08a5bf..d4247d5fcc6 100644
--- a/run-command.c
+++ b/run-command.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "gettext.h"
 #include "sigchain.h"
 #include "strvec.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "thread-utils.h"
 #include "strbuf.h"
 #include "string-list.h"
diff --git a/symlinks.c b/symlinks.c
index 27ecc93693b..b29e340c2da 100644
--- a/symlinks.c
+++ b/symlinks.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-#include "cache.h"
+#include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "gettext.h"
 #include "setup.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 
 static int threaded_check_leading_path(struct cache_def *cache, const char *name,
 				       int len, int warn_on_lstat_err);
diff --git a/symlinks.h b/symlinks.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7ae3d5b8569
--- /dev/null
+++ b/symlinks.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#ifndef SYMLINKS_H
+#define SYMLINKS_H
+
+#include "strbuf.h"
+
+struct cache_def {
+	struct strbuf path;
+	int flags;
+	int track_flags;
+	int prefix_len_stat_func;
+};
+#define CACHE_DEF_INIT { \
+	.path = STRBUF_INIT, \
+}
+static inline void cache_def_clear(struct cache_def *cache)
+{
+	strbuf_release(&cache->path);
+}
+
+int has_symlink_leading_path(const char *name, int len);
+int threaded_has_symlink_leading_path(struct cache_def *, const char *, int);
+int check_leading_path(const char *name, int len, int warn_on_lstat_err);
+int has_dirs_only_path(const char *name, int len, int prefix_len);
+void invalidate_lstat_cache(void);
+void schedule_dir_for_removal(const char *name, int len);
+void remove_scheduled_dirs(void);
+
+#endif /* SYMLINKS_H */
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index c6de2ca5a7e..e8a5295e737 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "sparse-index.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "submodule-config.h"
+#include "symlinks.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
 #include "object-store.h"