diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index bfcb9c7ac3..8992dd6ae8 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -2295,6 +2295,9 @@ static struct ref_store *ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 {
 	const struct ref_storage_be *be;
 	struct ref_store *refs;
+	struct ref_store_init_options opts = {
+		.access_flags = flags,
+	};
 
 	be = find_ref_storage_backend(format);
 	if (!be)
@@ -2304,7 +2307,8 @@ static struct ref_store *ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 	 * TODO Send in a 'struct worktree' instead of a 'gitdir', and
 	 * allow the backend to handle how it wants to deal with worktrees.
 	 */
-	refs = be->init(repo, repo->ref_storage_payload, gitdir, flags);
+	refs = be->init(repo, repo->ref_storage_payload, gitdir, &opts);
+
 	return refs;
 }
 
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index b3b0c25f84..72afe62cee 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ static void clear_loose_ref_cache(struct files_ref_store *refs)
 static struct ref_store *files_ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 					      const char *payload,
 					      const char *gitdir,
-					      unsigned int flags)
+					      const struct ref_store_init_options *opts)
 {
 	struct files_ref_store *refs = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*refs));
 	struct ref_store *ref_store = (struct ref_store *)refs;
@@ -120,11 +120,13 @@ static struct ref_store *files_ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 					 &ref_common_dir);
 
 	base_ref_store_init(ref_store, repo, refdir.buf, &refs_be_files);
-	refs->store_flags = flags;
+
 	refs->gitcommondir = strbuf_detach(&ref_common_dir, NULL);
 	refs->packed_ref_store =
-		packed_ref_store_init(repo, NULL, refs->gitcommondir, flags);
+		packed_ref_store_init(repo, NULL, refs->gitcommondir, opts);
+	refs->store_flags = opts->access_flags;
 	refs->log_all_ref_updates = repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(repo);
+
 	repo_config_get_bool(repo, "core.prefersymlinkrefs", &refs->prefer_symlink_refs);
 
 	chdir_notify_reparent("files-backend $GIT_DIR", &refs->base.gitdir);
diff --git a/refs/packed-backend.c b/refs/packed-backend.c
index 23ed62984b..35a0f32e1c 100644
--- a/refs/packed-backend.c
+++ b/refs/packed-backend.c
@@ -218,14 +218,14 @@ static size_t snapshot_hexsz(const struct snapshot *snapshot)
 struct ref_store *packed_ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 					const char *payload UNUSED,
 					const char *gitdir,
-					unsigned int store_flags)
+					const struct ref_store_init_options *opts)
 {
 	struct packed_ref_store *refs = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*refs));
 	struct ref_store *ref_store = (struct ref_store *)refs;
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	base_ref_store_init(ref_store, repo, gitdir, &refs_be_packed);
-	refs->store_flags = store_flags;
+	refs->store_flags = opts->access_flags;
 
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/packed-refs", gitdir);
 	refs->path = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
diff --git a/refs/packed-backend.h b/refs/packed-backend.h
index 2c2377a356..1db48e801d 100644
--- a/refs/packed-backend.h
+++ b/refs/packed-backend.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 struct repository;
 struct ref_transaction;
+struct ref_store_init_options;
 
 /*
  * Support for storing references in a `packed-refs` file.
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ struct ref_transaction;
 struct ref_store *packed_ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 					const char *payload,
 					const char *gitdir,
-					unsigned int store_flags);
+					const struct ref_store_init_options *options);
 
 /*
  * Lock the packed-refs file for writing. Flags is passed to
diff --git a/refs/refs-internal.h b/refs/refs-internal.h
index 2d963cc4f4..f49b3807bf 100644
--- a/refs/refs-internal.h
+++ b/refs/refs-internal.h
@@ -385,6 +385,15 @@ struct ref_store;
 				 REF_STORE_ODB | \
 				 REF_STORE_MAIN)
 
+/*
+ * Options for initializing the ref backend. All backend-agnostic information
+ * which backends required will be held here.
+ */
+struct ref_store_init_options {
+	/* The kind of operations that the ref_store is allowed to perform. */
+	unsigned int access_flags;
+};
+
 /*
  * Initialize the ref_store for the specified gitdir. These functions
  * should call base_ref_store_init() to initialize the shared part of
@@ -393,7 +402,7 @@ struct ref_store;
 typedef struct ref_store *ref_store_init_fn(struct repository *repo,
 					    const char *payload,
 					    const char *gitdir,
-					    unsigned int flags);
+					    const struct ref_store_init_options *opts);
 /*
  * Release all memory and resources associated with the ref store.
  */
diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
index daea30a5b4..ad4ee2627c 100644
--- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ static int reftable_be_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 					  const char *payload,
 					  const char *gitdir,
-					  unsigned int store_flags)
+					  const struct ref_store_init_options *opts)
 {
 	struct reftable_ref_store *refs = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*refs));
 	struct strbuf ref_common_dir = STRBUF_INIT;
@@ -386,8 +386,8 @@ static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 
 	base_ref_store_init(&refs->base, repo, refdir.buf, &refs_be_reftable);
 	strmap_init(&refs->worktree_backends);
-	refs->store_flags = store_flags;
 	refs->log_all_ref_updates = repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(repo);
+	refs->store_flags = opts->access_flags;
 
 	switch (repo->hash_algo->format_id) {
 	case GIT_SHA1_FORMAT_ID: