diff --git a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.cpp b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.cpp
index 1f66dbd691e..336196601c1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.cpp
@@ -180,8 +180,7 @@ public:
 
     CppModelManager modelManager;
     CppToolsSettings settings;
-    CppFileSettings m_fileSettings;
-    CppFileSettingsPage m_cppFileSettingsPage{&m_fileSettings};
+    CppFileSettingsPage m_cppFileSettingsPage;
     CppCodeModelSettingsPage m_cppCodeModelSettingsPage;
     CppCodeStyleSettingsPage m_cppCodeStyleSettingsPage;
     CppProjectUpdaterFactory m_cppProjectUpdaterFactory;
@@ -231,16 +230,13 @@ void CppEditorPlugin::initialize()
 void CppEditorPlugin::extensionsInitialized()
 {
     setupCppQuickFixProjectPanel();
-    setupCppFileSettingsProjectPanel();
+    setupCppFileSettings();
 
     if (CppModelManager::isClangCodeModelActive()) {
         setupClangdProjectSettingsPanel();
         setupClangdSettingsPage();
     }
 
-    d->m_fileSettings.fromSettings(ICore::settings());
-    d->m_fileSettings.addMimeInitializer();
-
     // Add the hover handler factories here instead of in initialize()
     // so that the Clang Code Model has a chance to hook in.
     d->m_cppEditorFactory.addHoverHandler(CppModelManager::createHoverHandler());
@@ -622,17 +618,10 @@ bool CppEditorPlugin::usePragmaOnce(Project *project)
 CppFileSettings CppEditorPlugin::fileSettings(Project *project)
 {
     if (!project)
-        return instance()->d->m_fileSettings;
+        return globalCppFileSettings();
     return CppFileSettingsForProject(project).settings();
 }
 
-#ifdef WITH_TESTS
-void CppEditorPlugin::setGlobalFileSettings(const CppFileSettings &settings)
-{
-    instance()->d->m_fileSettings = settings;
-}
-#endif
-
 static FilePaths findFilesInProject(const QStringList &names, const Project *project,
                                       FileType fileType)
 {
diff --git a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.h b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.h
index 318c78af328..c29a8756148 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.h
+++ b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppeditorplugin.h
@@ -37,9 +37,6 @@ public:
     void switchDeclarationDefinition();
 
     static CppFileSettings fileSettings(ProjectExplorer::Project *project);
-#ifdef WITH_TESTS
-    static void setGlobalFileSettings(const CppFileSettings &settings);
-#endif
 
 signals:
     void typeHierarchyRequested();
diff --git a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.cpp b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.cpp
index 878879a8a74..6b9dfd78c02 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.cpp
@@ -450,14 +450,14 @@ void CppFileSettingsWidget::slotEdit()
     Core::EditorManager::openEditor(path, CppEditor::Constants::CPPEDITOR_ID);
 }
 
-// --------------- CppFileSettingsPage
+// CppFileSettingsPage
 
-CppFileSettingsPage::CppFileSettingsPage(CppFileSettings *settings)
+CppFileSettingsPage::CppFileSettingsPage()
 {
     setId(Constants::CPP_FILE_SETTINGS_ID);
     setDisplayName(Tr::tr("File Naming"));
     setCategory(Constants::CPP_SETTINGS_CATEGORY);
-    setWidgetCreator([settings] { return new CppFileSettingsWidget(settings); });
+    setWidgetCreator([] { return new CppFileSettingsWidget(&globalCppFileSettings()); });
 }
 
 CppFileSettingsForProject::CppFileSettingsForProject(ProjectExplorer::Project *project)
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ CppFileSettingsForProject::CppFileSettingsForProject(ProjectExplorer::Project *p
 
 CppFileSettings CppFileSettingsForProject::settings() const
 {
-    return m_useGlobalSettings ? CppEditorPlugin::fileSettings(nullptr) : m_customSettings;
+    return m_useGlobalSettings ? globalCppFileSettings() : m_customSettings;
 }
 
 void CppFileSettingsForProject::setSettings(const CppFileSettings &settings)
@@ -600,9 +600,19 @@ public:
     }
 };
 
-void setupCppFileSettingsProjectPanel()
+void setupCppFileSettings()
 {
     static CppFileSettingsProjectPanelFactory theCppFileSettingsProjectPanelFactory;
+
+    globalCppFileSettings().fromSettings(Core::ICore::settings());
+    globalCppFileSettings().addMimeInitializer();
+}
+
+CppFileSettings &globalCppFileSettings()
+{
+    // This is the global instance. There could be more.
+    static CppFileSettings theGlobalCppFileSettings;
+    return theGlobalCppFileSettings;
 }
 
 } // namespace CppEditor::Internal
diff --git a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.h b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.h
index fde1fb28395..7da35b599eb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.h
+++ b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppfilesettingspage.h
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ private:
 class CppFileSettingsPage : public Core::IOptionsPage
 {
 public:
-    explicit CppFileSettingsPage(CppFileSettings *settings);
+    CppFileSettingsPage();
 };
 
 class CppFileSettingsForProjectWidget : public ProjectExplorer::ProjectSettingsWidget
@@ -85,6 +85,8 @@ private:
     Private * const d;
 };
 
-void setupCppFileSettingsProjectPanel();
+CppFileSettings &globalCppFileSettings();
+
+void setupCppFileSettings();
 
 } // namespace CppEditor::Internal
diff --git a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppheadersource_test.cpp b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppheadersource_test.cpp
index 28f5a8b6fb7..7a195f60890 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppheadersource_test.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cppeditor/cppheadersource_test.cpp
@@ -71,27 +71,25 @@ void HeaderSourceTest::test_data()
 void HeaderSourceTest::initTestCase()
 {
     QDir(baseTestDir()).mkpath(_("."));
-    CppFileSettings fs = CppEditorPlugin::fileSettings(nullptr);
+    CppFileSettings &fs = globalCppFileSettings();
     fs.headerSearchPaths.append(QLatin1String("include"));
     fs.headerSearchPaths.append(QLatin1String("../include"));
     fs.sourceSearchPaths.append(QLatin1String("src"));
     fs.sourceSearchPaths.append(QLatin1String("../src"));
     fs.headerPrefixes.append(QLatin1String("testh_"));
     fs.sourcePrefixes.append(QLatin1String("testc_"));
-    CppEditorPlugin::setGlobalFileSettings(fs);
 }
 
 void HeaderSourceTest::cleanupTestCase()
 {
     Utils::FilePath::fromString(baseTestDir()).removeRecursively();
-    CppFileSettings fs = CppEditorPlugin::fileSettings(nullptr);
+    CppFileSettings &fs = globalCppFileSettings();
     fs.headerSearchPaths.removeLast();
     fs.headerSearchPaths.removeLast();
     fs.sourceSearchPaths.removeLast();
     fs.sourceSearchPaths.removeLast();
     fs.headerPrefixes.removeLast();
     fs.sourcePrefixes.removeLast();
-    CppEditorPlugin::setGlobalFileSettings(fs);
 }
 
 } // namespace CppEditor::Internal