diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_backup.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_backup.go
index b7eed1318..aa225338a 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_backup.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_backup.go
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ func (opts BackupOptions) Check(gopts GlobalOptions, args []string) error {
 // from being saved in a snapshot based on path only
 func collectRejectByNameFuncs(opts BackupOptions, repo *repository.Repository) (fs []archiver.RejectByNameFunc, err error) {
 	// exclude restic cache
-	if repo.Cache != nil {
+	if repo.Cache() != nil {
 		f, err := rejectResticCache(repo)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go
index 213714799..fce109bdd 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_prune.go
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func runPrune(ctx context.Context, opts PruneOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, term
 }
 
 func runPruneWithRepo(ctx context.Context, opts PruneOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, repo *repository.Repository, ignoreSnapshots restic.IDSet, term *termstatus.Terminal) error {
-	if repo.Cache == nil {
+	if repo.Cache() == nil {
 		Print("warning: running prune without a cache, this may be very slow!\n")
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/restic/exclude.go b/cmd/restic/exclude.go
index 99d1128a9..1c05f4abb 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/exclude.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/exclude.go
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@ import (
 // rejectResticCache returns a RejectByNameFunc that rejects the restic cache
 // directory (if set).
 func rejectResticCache(repo *repository.Repository) (archiver.RejectByNameFunc, error) {
-	if repo.Cache == nil {
+	if repo.Cache() == nil {
 		return func(string) bool {
 			return false
 		}, nil
 	}
-	cacheBase := repo.Cache.BaseDir()
+	cacheBase := repo.Cache().BaseDir()
 
 	if cacheBase == "" {
 		return nil, errors.New("cacheBase is empty string")
diff --git a/internal/repository/check.go b/internal/repository/check.go
index 4e57a7c1c..2bf2ac8f3 100644
--- a/internal/repository/check.go
+++ b/internal/repository/check.go
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ func (e *partialReadError) Error() string {
 func CheckPack(ctx context.Context, r *Repository, id restic.ID, blobs []restic.Blob, size int64, bufRd *bufio.Reader, dec *zstd.Decoder) error {
 	err := checkPackInner(ctx, r, id, blobs, size, bufRd, dec)
 	if err != nil {
-		if r.Cache != nil {
+		if r.cache != nil {
 			// ignore error as there's not much we can do here
-			_ = r.Cache.Forget(backend.Handle{Type: restic.PackFile, Name: id.String()})
+			_ = r.cache.Forget(backend.Handle{Type: restic.PackFile, Name: id.String()})
 		}
 
 		// retry pack verification to detect transient errors
diff --git a/internal/repository/raw.go b/internal/repository/raw.go
index 31443b010..c5a4a72b7 100644
--- a/internal/repository/raw.go
+++ b/internal/repository/raw.go
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ func (r *Repository) LoadRaw(ctx context.Context, t restic.FileType, id restic.I
 	// retry loading damaged data only once. If a file fails to download correctly
 	// the second time, then it is likely corrupted at the backend.
 	if h.Type != backend.ConfigFile && id != restic.Hash(buf) {
-		if r.Cache != nil {
+		if r.cache != nil {
 			// Cleanup cache to make sure it's not the cached copy that is broken.
 			// Ignore error as there's not much we can do in that case.
-			_ = r.Cache.Forget(h)
+			_ = r.cache.Forget(h)
 		}
 
 		buf, err = loadRaw(ctx, r.be, h)
diff --git a/internal/repository/repository.go b/internal/repository/repository.go
index b6a8cab11..09cc1977a 100644
--- a/internal/repository/repository.go
+++ b/internal/repository/repository.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ type Repository struct {
 	key   *crypto.Key
 	keyID restic.ID
 	idx   *index.MasterIndex
-	Cache *cache.Cache
+	cache *cache.Cache
 
 	opts Options
 
@@ -154,10 +154,14 @@ func (r *Repository) UseCache(c *cache.Cache) {
 		return
 	}
 	debug.Log("using cache")
-	r.Cache = c
+	r.cache = c
 	r.be = c.Wrap(r.be)
 }
 
+func (r *Repository) Cache() *cache.Cache {
+	return r.cache
+}
+
 // SetDryRun sets the repo backend into dry-run mode.
 func (r *Repository) SetDryRun() {
 	r.be = dryrun.New(r.be)
@@ -230,15 +234,15 @@ func (r *Repository) LoadBlob(ctx context.Context, t restic.BlobType, id restic.
 	}
 
 	// try cached pack files first
-	sortCachedPacksFirst(r.Cache, blobs)
+	sortCachedPacksFirst(r.cache, blobs)
 
 	buf, err := r.loadBlob(ctx, blobs, buf)
 	if err != nil {
-		if r.Cache != nil {
+		if r.cache != nil {
 			for _, blob := range blobs {
 				h := backend.Handle{Type: restic.PackFile, Name: blob.PackID.String(), IsMetadata: blob.Type.IsMetadata()}
 				// ignore errors as there's not much we can do here
-				_ = r.Cache.Forget(h)
+				_ = r.cache.Forget(h)
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -722,14 +726,14 @@ func (r *Repository) createIndexFromPacks(ctx context.Context, packsize map[rest
 // prepareCache initializes the local cache. indexIDs is the list of IDs of
 // index files still present in the repo.
 func (r *Repository) prepareCache() error {
-	if r.Cache == nil {
+	if r.cache == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	packs := r.idx.Packs(restic.NewIDSet())
 
 	// clear old packs
-	err := r.Cache.Clear(restic.PackFile, packs)
+	err := r.cache.Clear(restic.PackFile, packs)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error clearing pack files in cache: %v\n", err)
 	}
@@ -855,9 +859,9 @@ func (r *Repository) ListPack(ctx context.Context, id restic.ID, size int64) ([]
 
 	entries, hdrSize, err := pack.List(r.Key(), backend.ReaderAt(ctx, r.be, h), size)
 	if err != nil {
-		if r.Cache != nil {
+		if r.cache != nil {
 			// ignore error as there is not much we can do here
-			_ = r.Cache.Forget(h)
+			_ = r.cache.Forget(h)
 		}
 
 		// retry on error