diff --git a/src/common/rclconfig.cpp b/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
index d5a96aaa..531d4c64 100644
--- a/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ typedef pair<int,int> RclPII;
 // We default to a case- and diacritics-less index for now
 bool o_index_stripchars = true;
 
+bool o_uptodate_test_use_mtime = false;
+
 string RclConfig::o_localecharset; 
 string RclConfig::o_origcwd; 
 
@@ -342,6 +344,7 @@ bool RclConfig::updateMainConfig()
     static int m_index_stripchars_init = 0;
     if (!m_index_stripchars_init) {
 	getConfParam("indexStripChars", &o_index_stripchars);
+        getConfParam("testmodifusemtime", &o_uptodate_test_use_mtime);
 	m_index_stripchars_init = 1;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/common/rclconfig.h b/src/common/rclconfig.h
index 9254d5da..b9db0d20 100644
--- a/src/common/rclconfig.h
+++ b/src/common/rclconfig.h
@@ -379,4 +379,9 @@ class RclConfig {
 // reset. When using multiple indexes, all must have the same value
 extern bool o_index_stripchars;
 
+// This global variable defines if we use mtime instead of ctime for
+// up-to-date tests. This is mostly incompatible with xattr indexing,
+// in addition to other issues. See recoll.conf comments. 
+extern bool o_uptodate_test_use_mtime;
+
 #endif /* _RCLCONFIG_H_INCLUDED_ */
diff --git a/src/index/fsindexer.cpp b/src/index/fsindexer.cpp
index 75153b01..bf63875f 100644
--- a/src/index/fsindexer.cpp
+++ b/src/index/fsindexer.cpp
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@
 #include "execmd.h"
 #include "extrameta.h"
 
-int FsIndexer::o_tstupdusemtime = -1;
-
 using namespace std;
 
 #ifdef IDX_THREADS
@@ -111,12 +109,6 @@ FsIndexer::FsIndexer(RclConfig *cnf, Rcl::Db *db, DbIxStatusUpdater *updfunc)
     m_havelocalfields = m_config->hasNameAnywhere("localfields");
     m_config->getConfParam("detectxattronly", &m_detectxattronly);
     
-    if (o_tstupdusemtime == -1) {
-        bool b(false);
-        m_config->getConfParam("testmodifusemtime", &b);
-        o_tstupdusemtime = b ? 1 : 0;
-    }
-
 #ifdef IDX_THREADS
     m_stableconfig = new RclConfig(*m_config);
     m_loglevel = DebugLog::getdbl()->getlevel();
@@ -497,7 +489,8 @@ void FsIndexer::makesig(const struct stat *stp, string& out)
 {
     char cbuf[100]; 
     sprintf(cbuf, "%lld" "%ld", (long long)stp->st_size, 
-            o_tstupdusemtime ? (long)stp->st_mtime : (long)stp->st_ctime);
+            o_uptodate_test_use_mtime ? 
+            (long)stp->st_mtime : (long)stp->st_ctime);
     out = cbuf;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/index/fsindexer.h b/src/index/fsindexer.h
index 0c08550c..f7ce0cd9 100644
--- a/src/index/fsindexer.h
+++ b/src/index/fsindexer.h
@@ -135,10 +135,6 @@ class FsIndexer : public FsTreeWalkerCB {
     // Activate detection of xattr-only document updates. Experimental, so
     // needs a config option
     bool         m_detectxattronly;
-    // Use mtime instead of ctime for up-to-date tests. This is mostly
-    // incompatible with xattr indexing, in addition to other
-    // issues. See recoll.conf comments.
-    static int o_tstupdusemtime;
 
 #ifdef IDX_THREADS
     friend void *FsIndexerDbUpdWorker(void*);