diff --git a/samples/GitHttpBackend.Server/Program.cs b/samples/GitHttpBackend.Server/Program.cs
index 6bac035..442c7d5 100644
--- a/samples/GitHttpBackend.Server/Program.cs
+++ b/samples/GitHttpBackend.Server/Program.cs
@@ -101,7 +101,12 @@
     return Results.Content(RenderHomePage(projectRoot, ctx.Request, canAccess), "text/html; charset=utf-8");
 });
 
-var endpoint = app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", options);
+// Built here rather than inside MapGitHttpBackend so the resolved backend path is available
+// for the startup log without resolving it a second time — and so a bad path fails before
+// that line is written, not after it.
+var invoker = new GitHttpBackendInvoker(options);
+
+var endpoint = app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", invoker);
 if (useBasic)
 {
     endpoint.RequireAuthorization();
@@ -110,7 +115,7 @@
 
 app.Logger.LogInformation(
     "Serving git repositories from {ProjectRoot} (auth mode: {AuthMode}, git-http-backend: {BackendPath})",
-    projectRoot, useBasic ? "basic" : "none", new GitHttpBackendInvoker(options).BackendPath);
+    projectRoot, useBasic ? "basic" : "none", invoker.BackendPath);
 
 await app.RunAsync();
 
diff --git a/src/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore/GitHttpBackendEndpointExtensions.cs b/src/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore/GitHttpBackendEndpointExtensions.cs
index 93df1b5..e847c3a 100644
--- a/src/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore/GitHttpBackendEndpointExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore/GitHttpBackendEndpointExtensions.cs
@@ -23,17 +23,37 @@ public static IEndpointConventionBuilder MapGitHttpBackend(
         ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(options);
 
         // Constructed once: resolves and validates the backend path up front.
-        var invoker = new GitHttpBackendInvoker(options);
+        return endpoints.MapGitHttpBackend(prefix, new GitHttpBackendInvoker(options));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Maps Git Smart HTTP endpoints under <paramref name="prefix"/> using an invoker the
+    /// caller already built.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// Resolving <c>git-http-backend</c> starts a <c>git --exec-path</c> process and checks the
+    /// filesystem, so a host that also wants the resolved path — to log it at startup, say —
+    /// can build the invoker itself, read <see cref="GitHttpBackendInvoker.BackendPath"/>, and
+    /// hand the same instance here rather than paying for the lookup twice. It also means a
+    /// bad backend path fails before that log line rather than after it.
+    /// </remarks>
+    public static IEndpointConventionBuilder MapGitHttpBackend(
+        this IEndpointRouteBuilder endpoints, string prefix, GitHttpBackendInvoker invoker)
+    {
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(endpoints);
+        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(invoker);
 
         var normalizedPrefix = "/" + prefix.Trim('/');
         var pattern = (normalizedPrefix == "/" ? "" : normalizedPrefix) + "/{**gitPath}";
 
         return endpoints.MapMethods(pattern, new[] { HttpMethods.Get, HttpMethods.Post },
-            (HttpContext ctx) => HandleAsync(ctx, invoker, options));
+            (HttpContext ctx) => HandleAsync(ctx, invoker));
     }
 
-    static async Task HandleAsync(HttpContext ctx, GitHttpBackendInvoker invoker, GitBackendOptions options)
+    static async Task HandleAsync(HttpContext ctx, GitHttpBackendInvoker invoker)
     {
+        var options = invoker.Options;
+
         var logger = ctx.RequestServices.GetRequiredService<ILoggerFactory>()
             .CreateLogger("GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore");
 
diff --git a/src/GitHttpBackend/GitHttpBackendInvoker.cs b/src/GitHttpBackend/GitHttpBackendInvoker.cs
index 0326cf3..63ea2eb 100644
--- a/src/GitHttpBackend/GitHttpBackendInvoker.cs
+++ b/src/GitHttpBackend/GitHttpBackendInvoker.cs
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ public GitHttpBackendInvoker(GitBackendOptions options)
     /// <summary>The resolved path to the git-http-backend executable.</summary>
     public string BackendPath => _backendPath;
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The options this invoker was constructed with, so a host that owns the invoker does not
+    /// have to carry the options alongside it to reach the <see cref="GitBackendOptions.Authorize"/>
+    /// hook.
+    /// </summary>
+    public GitBackendOptions Options => _options;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates the target repository when <see cref="GitBackendOptions.AllowCreateOnPush"/>
     /// is set, <paramref name="request"/> is a push, and the repository does not exist yet.
diff --git a/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/CallerOwnedInvokerTests.cs b/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/CallerOwnedInvokerTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9301ad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/CallerOwnedInvokerTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+using System.Net;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing;
+
+namespace GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// The overload that takes an invoker the host already built. What matters is that the
+/// mapping uses that instance — not a second one built from the same options — so the
+/// resolved backend path the host logged is the one actually serving requests.
+/// </summary>
+public class CallerOwnedInvokerTests
+{
+    [RequiresGitFact]
+    public void Options_expose_what_the_invoker_was_constructed_with()
+    {
+        var options = new GitBackendOptions { ProjectRoot = Path.GetTempPath() };
+        var invoker = new GitHttpBackendInvoker(options);
+
+        Assert.Same(options, invoker.Options);
+        Assert.True(File.Exists(invoker.BackendPath));
+    }
+
+    [RequiresGitFact]
+    public async Task A_caller_owned_invoker_serves_the_repository()
+    {
+        using var git = new GitClient();
+        await using var server = await GitTestServer.StartWithInvokerAsync(
+            root => new GitHttpBackendInvoker(new GitBackendOptions { ProjectRoot = root }));
+
+        var work = git.CreateWorkingRepository("work");
+        var bare = Path.Combine(server.ProjectRoot, "projekt.git");
+        git.RunOk(server.ProjectRoot, "init", "--bare", "--", bare);
+        git.RunOk(work, "push", bare, "main");
+        git.RunOk(bare, "symbolic-ref", "HEAD", "refs/heads/main");
+
+        var clone = Path.Combine(git.Root, "clone");
+        git.RunOk(git.Root, "clone", new Uri(server.Client.BaseAddress!, "projekt.git").ToString(), clone);
+
+        Assert.True(File.Exists(Path.Combine(clone, "README.md")));
+    }
+
+    [RequiresGitFact]
+    public async Task The_mapping_uses_the_invokers_own_options()
+    {
+        // The hook only runs if HandleAsync read the options off the instance it was handed,
+        // which is what stops the two overloads from drifting apart.
+        var authorizeCalls = 0;
+        await using var server = await GitTestServer.StartWithInvokerAsync(
+            root => new GitHttpBackendInvoker(new GitBackendOptions
+            {
+                ProjectRoot = root,
+                Authorize = _ =>
+                {
+                    Interlocked.Increment(ref authorizeCalls);
+                    return ValueTask.FromResult(false);
+                },
+            }));
+
+        var response = await server.Client.GetAsync("/projekt.git/info/refs?service=git-upload-pack");
+
+        Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.Forbidden, response.StatusCode);
+        Assert.Equal(1, authorizeCalls);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Both_overloads_reject_a_null_argument()
+    {
+        await using var app = WebApplication.CreateSlimBuilder().Build();
+
+        Assert.Throws<ArgumentNullException>(
+            () => app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", (GitBackendOptions)null!));
+        Assert.Throws<ArgumentNullException>(
+            () => app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", (GitHttpBackendInvoker)null!));
+        Assert.Throws<ArgumentNullException>(
+            () => ((IEndpointRouteBuilder)null!).MapGitHttpBackend("/", new GitBackendOptions
+            {
+                ProjectRoot = Path.GetTempPath(),
+            }));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/GitTestServer.cs b/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/GitTestServer.cs
index 25f2894..4f95762 100644
--- a/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/GitTestServer.cs
+++ b/tests/GitHttpBackend.AspNetCore.Tests/GitTestServer.cs
@@ -33,7 +33,17 @@ sealed class GitTestServer : IAsyncDisposable
     /// Starts a server over a fresh project root. <paramref name="configure"/> receives that
     /// root and returns the options to map, so a test can set its own <c>Authorize</c> hook.
     /// </summary>
-    public static async Task<GitTestServer> StartAsync(Func<string, GitBackendOptions> configure)
+    public static Task<GitTestServer> StartAsync(Func<string, GitBackendOptions> configure)
+        => StartCoreAsync((app, root) => app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", configure(root)));
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Same, but the caller builds the invoker — the overload a host uses when it wants the
+    /// resolved backend path for itself.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static Task<GitTestServer> StartWithInvokerAsync(Func<string, GitHttpBackendInvoker> configure)
+        => StartCoreAsync((app, root) => app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", configure(root)));
+
+    static async Task<GitTestServer> StartCoreAsync(Action<WebApplication, string> map)
     {
         var projectRoot = Path.Combine(
             Path.GetTempPath(), "githttpbackend-tests", Guid.NewGuid().ToString("n"));
@@ -48,7 +58,7 @@ public static async Task<GitTestServer> StartAsync(Func<string, GitBackendOption
             builder.Services.AddLogging();
 
             app = builder.Build();
-            app.MapGitHttpBackend("/", configure(projectRoot));
+            map(app, projectRoot);
             await app.StartAsync();
 
             var address = app.Urls.First();