diff --git a/gdb/Makefile.in b/gdb/Makefile.in
index d6282636752..81bed9085ac 100644
--- a/gdb/Makefile.in
+++ b/gdb/Makefile.in
@@ -953,6 +953,7 @@ COMMON_SFILES = \
 	gdbsupport/cleanups.c \
 	gdbsupport/common-debug.c \
 	gdbsupport/common-exceptions.c \
+	gdbsupport/common-inferior.c \
 	gdbsupport/common-regcache.c \
 	gdbsupport/common-utils.c \
 	gdbsupport/errors.c \
diff --git a/gdb/gdbserver/Makefile.in b/gdb/gdbserver/Makefile.in
index ca0a4cbd10f..d79424b5ac3 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbserver/Makefile.in
+++ b/gdb/gdbserver/Makefile.in
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ SFILES = \
 	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/cleanups.c \
 	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/common-debug.c \
 	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/common-exceptions.c \
+	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/common-inferior.c \
 	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/common-regcache.c \
 	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/common-utils.c \
 	$(srcdir)/gdbsupport/errors.c \
@@ -248,6 +249,7 @@ OBS = \
 	gdbsupport/cleanups.o \
 	gdbsupport/common-debug.o \
 	gdbsupport/common-exceptions.o \
+	gdbsupport/common-inferior.o \
 	gdbsupport/job-control.o \
 	gdbsupport/common-regcache.o \
 	gdbsupport/common-utils.o \
diff --git a/gdb/gdbserver/server.c b/gdb/gdbserver/server.c
index 67e8e3e54de..8ee551828dc 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbserver/server.c
+++ b/gdb/gdbserver/server.c
@@ -67,12 +67,6 @@ char *current_directory;
 
 static gdb_environ our_environ;
 
-/* Start the inferior using a shell.  */
-
-/* We always try to start the inferior using a shell.  */
-
-int startup_with_shell = 1;
-
 int server_waiting;
 
 static int extended_protocol;
diff --git a/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.c b/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3a7c873f1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.c
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/* Functions to deal with the inferior being executed on GDB or
+   GDBserver.
+
+   Copyright (C) 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+
+   This file is part of GDB.
+
+   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.  */
+
+#include "gdbsupport/common-defs.h"
+#include "gdbsupport/common-inferior.h"
+
+/* See common-inferior.h.  */
+
+bool startup_with_shell = true;
diff --git a/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.h b/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.h
index 72e4bd9eac3..77d4ad93d35 100644
--- a/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.h
+++ b/gdb/gdbsupport/common-inferior.h
@@ -38,4 +38,24 @@ extern const char *get_inferior_cwd ();
    the directory.  */
 extern void set_inferior_cwd (const char *cwd);
 
+/* Whether to start up the debuggee under a shell.
+
+   If startup-with-shell is set, GDB's "run" will attempt to start up
+   the debuggee under a shell.  This also happens when using GDBserver
+   under extended remote mode.
+
+   This is in order for argument-expansion to occur.  E.g.,
+
+   (gdb) run *
+
+   The "*" gets expanded by the shell into a list of files.
+
+   While this is a nice feature, it may be handy to bypass the shell
+   in some cases.  To disable this feature, do "set startup-with-shell
+   false".
+
+   The catch-exec traps expected during start-up will be one more if
+   the target is started up with a shell.  */
+extern bool startup_with_shell;
+
 #endif /* COMMON_COMMON_INFERIOR_H */
diff --git a/gdb/infcmd.c b/gdb/infcmd.c
index dc82ef043fe..4d42f75b63a 100644
--- a/gdb/infcmd.c
+++ b/gdb/infcmd.c
@@ -103,10 +103,6 @@ enum stop_stack_kind stop_stack_dummy;
 
 int stopped_by_random_signal;
 
-/* See inferior.h.  */
-
-bool startup_with_shell = true;
-
 
 /* Accessor routines.  */
 
diff --git a/gdb/inferior.h b/gdb/inferior.h
index 3a64a7cfeae..43f0417e629 100644
--- a/gdb/inferior.h
+++ b/gdb/inferior.h
@@ -227,25 +227,6 @@ extern struct value *get_return_value (struct value *function,
 extern void prepare_execution_command (struct target_ops *target,
 				       int background);
 
-/* Whether to start up the debuggee under a shell.
-
-   If startup-with-shell is set, GDB's "run" will attempt to start up
-   the debuggee under a shell.
-
-   This is in order for argument-expansion to occur.  E.g.,
-
-   (gdb) run *
-
-   The "*" gets expanded by the shell into a list of files.
-
-   While this is a nice feature, it may be handy to bypass the shell
-   in some cases.  To disable this feature, do "set startup-with-shell
-   false".
-
-   The catch-exec traps expected during start-up will be one more if
-   the target is started up with a shell.  */
-extern bool startup_with_shell;
-
 /* Nonzero if stopped due to completion of a stack dummy routine.  */
 
 extern enum stop_stack_kind stop_stack_dummy;
diff --git a/gdb/nat/fork-inferior.h b/gdb/nat/fork-inferior.h
index 065496c3827..0a76ff82d31 100644
--- a/gdb/nat/fork-inferior.h
+++ b/gdb/nat/fork-inferior.h
@@ -54,26 +54,6 @@ extern ptid_t startup_inferior (pid_t pid, int ntraps,
 				struct target_waitstatus *mystatus,
 				ptid_t *myptid);
 
-/* Whether to start up the debuggee under a shell.
-
-   If startup-with-shell is set, GDB's "run" will attempt to start up
-   the debuggee under a shell.  This also happens when using GDBserver
-   under extended remote mode.
-
-   This is in order for argument-expansion to occur.  E.g.,
-
-   (gdb) run *
-
-   The "*" gets expanded by the shell into a list of files.
-
-   While this is a nice feature, it may be handy to bypass the shell
-   in some cases.  To disable this feature, do "set startup-with-shell
-   false".
-
-   The catch-exec traps expected during start-up will be one more if
-   the target is started up with a shell.  */
-extern bool startup_with_shell;
-
 /* Perform any necessary tasks before a fork/vfork takes place.  ARGS
    is a string containing all the arguments received by the inferior.
    This function is mainly used by fork_inferior.  */
