diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index d85afe97a..f849e5dc7 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ static void set_allowed_options(OptionList *allowed_options);
 
 static void print_help(const OptionList &allowed_options);
 static void print_allowed_options(const OptionList &allowed_options);
-static void print_version();
+static void print_version(std::ostream &os);
 static void print_worldspecs(const std::vector<WorldSpec> &worldspecs,
 	std::ostream &os, bool print_name = true, bool print_path = true);
 static void print_modified_quicktune_values();
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	g_logger.registerThread("Main");
 	g_logger.addOutputMaxLevel(&stderr_output, LL_ACTION);
 
+	porting::osSpecificInit();
+
 	Settings cmd_args;
 	get_env_opts(cmd_args);
 	bool cmd_args_ok = get_cmdline_opts(argc, argv, &cmd_args);
@@ -158,10 +160,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	if (cmd_args.getFlag("version")) {
 		porting::attachOrCreateConsole();
-		print_version();
+		print_version(std::cout);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	// Debug handler
+	BEGIN_DEBUG_EXCEPTION_HANDLER
+
 	if (!setup_log_params(cmd_args))
 		return 1;
 
@@ -171,22 +176,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	}
 
 	porting::signal_handler_init();
-
-#ifdef __ANDROID__
-	porting::initAndroid();
-	porting::initializePathsAndroid();
-#else
 	porting::initializePaths();
-#endif
 
 	if (!create_userdata_path()) {
 		errorstream << "Cannot create user data directory" << std::endl;
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	// Debug handler
-	BEGIN_DEBUG_EXCEPTION_HANDLER
-
 	// List gameids if requested
 	if (cmd_args.exists("gameid") && cmd_args.get("gameid") == "list") {
 		list_game_ids();
@@ -215,7 +211,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (g_settings->getBool("enable_console"))
 		porting::attachOrCreateConsole();
 
-#ifndef __ANDROID__
 	// Run unit tests
 	if (cmd_args.getFlag("run-unittests")) {
 #if BUILD_UNITTESTS
@@ -245,7 +240,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		return 1;
 #endif
 	}
-#endif // __ANDROID__
 
 	GameStartData game_params;
 #ifdef SERVER
@@ -430,19 +424,20 @@ static void print_allowed_options(const OptionList &allowed_options)
 	}
 }
 
-static void print_version()
+static void print_version(std::ostream &os)
 {
-	std::cout << PROJECT_NAME_C " " << g_version_hash
+	os << PROJECT_NAME_C " " << g_version_hash
 		<< " (" << porting::getPlatformName() << ")" << std::endl;
 #ifndef SERVER
-	std::cout << "Using Irrlicht " IRRLICHT_SDK_VERSION << std::endl;
+	os << "Using Irrlicht " IRRLICHT_SDK_VERSION << std::endl;
 #endif
 #if USE_LUAJIT
-	std::cout << "Using " << LUAJIT_VERSION << std::endl;
+	os << "Using " << LUAJIT_VERSION << std::endl;
 #else
-	std::cout << "Using " << LUA_RELEASE << std::endl;
+	os << "Using " << LUA_RELEASE << std::endl;
 #endif
-	std::cout << g_build_info << std::endl;
+	os << "Running on " << porting::get_sysinfo() << std::endl;
+	os << g_build_info << std::endl;
 }
 
 static void list_game_ids()
@@ -718,10 +713,11 @@ static void uninit_common()
 
 static void startup_message()
 {
-	infostream << PROJECT_NAME_C << " " << g_version_hash
-		<< "\nwith SER_FMT_VER_HIGHEST_READ="
-		<< (int)SER_FMT_VER_HIGHEST_READ << ", "
-		<< g_build_info << std::endl;
+	print_version(infostream);
+	infostream << "SER_FMT_VER_HIGHEST_READ=" <<
+		TOSTRING(SER_FMT_VER_HIGHEST_READ) <<
+		" LATEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION=" << TOSTRING(LATEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION)
+		<< std::endl;
 }
 
 static bool read_config_file(const Settings &cmd_args)
diff --git a/src/porting.cpp b/src/porting.cpp
index 7784a671f..0d8d86c3e 100644
--- a/src/porting.cpp
+++ b/src/porting.cpp
@@ -68,9 +68,10 @@ with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 #include "filesys.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "util/string.h"
-#include <list>
+#include <vector>
 #include <cstdarg>
 #include <cstdio>
+#include <signal.h>
 
 #if !defined(SERVER) && defined(_WIN32)
 // On Windows export some driver-specific variables to encourage Minetest to be
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ namespace porting
 	Signal handler (grabs Ctrl-C on POSIX systems)
 */
 
-bool g_killed = false;
+static bool g_killed = false;
 
 bool *signal_handler_killstatus()
 {
@@ -96,9 +97,8 @@ bool *signal_handler_killstatus()
 }
 
 #if !defined(_WIN32) // POSIX
-	#include <signal.h>
 
-void signal_handler(int sig)
+static void signal_handler(int sig)
 {
 	if (!g_killed) {
 		if (sig == SIGINT) {
@@ -127,9 +127,8 @@ void signal_handler_init(void)
 }
 
 #else // _WIN32
-	#include <signal.h>
 
-BOOL WINAPI event_handler(DWORD sig)
+static BOOL WINAPI event_handler(DWORD sig)
 {
 	switch (sig) {
 	case CTRL_C_EVENT:
@@ -164,11 +163,11 @@ void signal_handler_init(void)
 	Path mangler
 */
 
-// Default to RUN_IN_PLACE style relative paths
-std::string path_share = "..";
-std::string path_user = "..";
-std::string path_locale = path_share + DIR_DELIM + "locale";
-std::string path_cache = path_user + DIR_DELIM + "cache";
+// Nobody should be reading these before initializePaths() is called
+std::string path_share = "UNINITIALIZED";
+std::string path_user = "UNINITIALIZED";
+std::string path_locale = "UNINITIALIZED";
+std::string path_cache = "UNINITIALIZED";
 
 
 std::string getDataPath(const char *subpath)
@@ -176,7 +175,7 @@ std::string getDataPath(const char *subpath)
 	return path_share + DIR_DELIM + subpath;
 }
 
-void pathRemoveFile(char *path, char delim)
+[[maybe_unused]] static void pathRemoveFile(char *path, char delim)
 {
 	// Remove filename and path delimiter
 	int i;
@@ -267,9 +266,9 @@ bool getCurrentWorkingDir(char *buf, size_t len)
 }
 
 
-bool getExecPathFromProcfs(char *buf, size_t buflen)
+static bool getExecPathFromProcfs(char *buf, size_t buflen)
 {
-#ifndef _WIN32
+#if defined(__linux__) || defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__DragonFly__)
 	buflen--;
 
 	ssize_t len;
@@ -396,10 +395,7 @@ bool getCurrentExecPath(char *buf, size_t len)
 #endif
 
 
-//// Non-Windows
-#if !defined(_WIN32)
-
-const char *getHomeOrFail()
+[[maybe_unused]] static inline const char *getHomeOrFail()
 {
 	const char *home = getenv("HOME");
 	// In rare cases the HOME environment variable may be unset
@@ -408,8 +404,6 @@ const char *getHomeOrFail()
 	return home;
 }
 
-#endif
-
 
 //// Windows
 #if defined(_WIN32)
@@ -449,6 +443,13 @@ bool setSystemPaths()
 }
 
 
+//// Android
+
+#elif defined(__ANDROID__)
+
+extern bool setSystemPaths(); // defined in porting_android.cpp
+
+
 //// Linux
 #elif defined(__linux__) || defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__DragonFly__)
 
@@ -457,11 +458,7 @@ bool setSystemPaths()
 	char buf[BUFSIZ];
 
 	if (!getCurrentExecPath(buf, sizeof(buf))) {
-#ifdef __ANDROID__
-		errorstream << "Unable to read bindir "<< std::endl;
-#else
 		FATAL_ERROR("Unable to read bindir");
-#endif
 		return false;
 	}
 
@@ -470,7 +467,7 @@ bool setSystemPaths()
 
 	// Find share directory from these.
 	// It is identified by containing the subdirectory "builtin".
-	std::list<std::string> trylist;
+	std::vector<std::string> trylist;
 	std::string static_sharedir = STATIC_SHAREDIR;
 	if (!static_sharedir.empty() && static_sharedir != ".")
 		trylist.push_back(static_sharedir);
@@ -479,12 +476,7 @@ bool setSystemPaths()
 		DIR_DELIM + PROJECT_NAME);
 	trylist.push_back(bindir + DIR_DELIM "..");
 
-#ifdef __ANDROID__
-	trylist.push_back(path_user);
-#endif
-
-	for (std::list<std::string>::const_iterator
-			i = trylist.begin(); i != trylist.end(); ++i) {
+	for (auto i = trylist.begin(); i != trylist.end(); ++i) {
 		const std::string &trypath = *i;
 		if (!fs::PathExists(trypath) ||
 			!fs::PathExists(trypath + DIR_DELIM + "builtin")) {
@@ -503,7 +495,6 @@ bool setSystemPaths()
 		break;
 	}
 
-#ifndef __ANDROID__
 	const char *const minetest_user_path = getenv("MINETEST_USER_PATH");
 	if (minetest_user_path && minetest_user_path[0] != '\0') {
 		path_user = std::string(minetest_user_path);
@@ -511,7 +502,6 @@ bool setSystemPaths()
 		path_user = std::string(getHomeOrFail()) + DIR_DELIM "."
 			+ PROJECT_NAME;
 	}
-#endif
 
 	return true;
 }
@@ -586,10 +576,9 @@ void migrateCachePath()
 void initializePaths()
 {
 #if RUN_IN_PLACE
-	char buf[BUFSIZ];
-
 	infostream << "Using relative paths (RUN_IN_PLACE)" << std::endl;
 
+	char buf[BUFSIZ];
 	bool success =
 		getCurrentExecPath(buf, sizeof(buf)) ||
 		getExecPathFromProcfs(buf, sizeof(buf));
@@ -627,17 +616,18 @@ void initializePaths()
 		path_user  = execpath;
 	}
 	path_cache = path_user + DIR_DELIM + "cache";
+
 #else
 	infostream << "Using system-wide paths (NOT RUN_IN_PLACE)" << std::endl;
 
 	if (!setSystemPaths())
 		errorstream << "Failed to get one or more system-wide path" << std::endl;
 
-
-#  ifdef _WIN32
+#  ifdef __ANDROID__
+	sanity_check(!path_cache.empty());
+#  elif defined(_WIN32)
 	path_cache = path_user + DIR_DELIM + "cache";
 #  else
-	// Initialize path_cache
 	// First try $XDG_CACHE_HOME/PROJECT_NAME
 	const char *cache_dir = getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME");
 	const char *home_dir = getenv("HOME");
@@ -651,9 +641,11 @@ void initializePaths()
 		// If neither works, use $PATH_USER/cache
 		path_cache = path_user + DIR_DELIM + "cache";
 	}
+#  endif // _WIN32
+
 	// Migrate cache folder to new location if possible
 	migrateCachePath();
-#  endif // _WIN32
+
 #endif // RUN_IN_PLACE
 
 	infostream << "Detected share path: " << path_share << std::endl;
@@ -727,6 +719,15 @@ bool secure_rand_fill_buf(void *buf, size_t len)
 
 #endif
 
+#ifndef __ANDROID__
+
+void osSpecificInit()
+{
+	// nothing here yet
+}
+
+#endif
+
 void attachOrCreateConsole()
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -794,6 +795,11 @@ int mt_snprintf(char *buf, const size_t buf_size, const char *fmt, ...)
 	return c;
 }
 
+#ifdef __ANDROID__
+// defined in porting_android.cpp
+extern void openURIAndroid(const char *url);
+#endif
+
 static bool open_uri(const std::string &uri)
 {
 	if (uri.find_first_of("\r\n") != std::string::npos) {
@@ -804,7 +810,7 @@ static bool open_uri(const std::string &uri)
 #if defined(_WIN32)
 	return (intptr_t)ShellExecuteA(NULL, NULL, uri.c_str(), NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL) > 32;
 #elif defined(__ANDROID__)
-	openURIAndroid(uri);
+	openURIAndroid(uri.c_str());
 	return true;
 #elif defined(__APPLE__)
 	const char *argv[] = {"open", uri.c_str(), NULL};
diff --git a/src/porting.h b/src/porting.h
index 0c7598805..cd710d191 100644
--- a/src/porting.h
+++ b/src/porting.h
@@ -301,6 +301,9 @@ inline const char *getPlatformName()
 
 bool secure_rand_fill_buf(void *buf, size_t len);
 
+// Call once near beginning of main function.
+void osSpecificInit();
+
 // This attaches to the parents process console, or creates a new one if it doesnt exist.
 void attachOrCreateConsole();
 
diff --git a/src/porting_android.cpp b/src/porting_android.cpp
index 1ed56015f..4d02eb10a 100644
--- a/src/porting_android.cpp
+++ b/src/porting_android.cpp
@@ -39,23 +39,19 @@ with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 
 extern int main(int argc, char *argv[]);
 
+namespace porting {
+	void cleanupAndroid(); // used here
+	bool setSystemPaths(); // used in porting.cpp
+}
+
 void android_main(android_app *app)
 {
-	int retval = 0;
 	porting::app_global = app;
 
 	Thread::setName("Main");
 
 	char *argv[] = {strdup(PROJECT_NAME), strdup("--verbose"), nullptr};
-	try {
-		main(ARRLEN(argv) - 1, argv);
-	} catch (std::exception &e) {
-		errorstream << "Uncaught exception in main thread: " << e.what() << std::endl;
-		retval = -1;
-	} catch (...) {
-		errorstream << "Uncaught exception in main thread!" << std::endl;
-		retval = -1;
-	}
+	int retval = main(ARRLEN(argv) - 1, argv);
 	free(argv[0]);
 	free(argv[1]);
 
@@ -65,8 +61,8 @@ void android_main(android_app *app)
 }
 
 namespace porting {
-android_app *app_global;
-JNIEnv      *jnienv;
+android_app *app_global = nullptr;
+JNIEnv      *jnienv = nullptr;
 jclass       nativeActivity;
 
 jclass findClass(const std::string &classname)
@@ -86,9 +82,8 @@ jclass findClass(const std::string &classname)
 	return (jclass) jnienv->CallObjectMethod(cls, findClass, strClassName);
 }
 
-void initAndroid()
+void osSpecificInit()
 {
-	porting::jnienv = nullptr;
 	JavaVM *jvm = app_global->activity->vm;
 	JavaVMAttachArgs lJavaVMAttachArgs;
 	lJavaVMAttachArgs.version = JNI_VERSION_1_6;
@@ -108,8 +103,7 @@ void initAndroid()
 
 #ifdef GPROF
 	// in the start-up code
-	__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_ERROR, PROJECT_NAME_C,
-			"Initializing GPROF profiler");
+	warningstream << "Initializing GPROF profiler" << std::endl;
 	monstartup("libMinetest.so");
 #endif
 }
@@ -117,7 +111,7 @@ void initAndroid()
 void cleanupAndroid()
 {
 #ifdef GPROF
-	errorstream << "Shutting down GPROF profiler" << std::endl;
+	warningstream << "Shutting down GPROF profiler" << std::endl;
 	setenv("CPUPROFILE", (path_user + DIR_DELIM + "gmon.out").c_str(), 1);
 	moncleanup();
 #endif
@@ -137,7 +131,7 @@ static std::string readJavaString(jstring j_str)
 	return str;
 }
 
-void initializePathsAndroid()
+bool setSystemPaths()
 {
 	// Set user and share paths
 	{
@@ -149,7 +143,6 @@ void initializePathsAndroid()
 		std::string str = readJavaString((jstring) result);
 		path_user = str;
 		path_share = str;
-		path_locale = str + DIR_DELIM + "locale";
 	}
 
 	// Set cache path
@@ -160,9 +153,9 @@ void initializePathsAndroid()
 				"porting::initializePathsAndroid unable to find Java getCachePath method");
 		jobject result = jnienv->CallObjectMethod(app_global->activity->clazz, getCachePath);
 		path_cache = readJavaString((jstring) result);
-
-		migrateCachePath();
 	}
+
+	return true;
 }
 
 void showInputDialog(const std::string &acceptButton, const std::string &hint,
@@ -183,7 +176,7 @@ void showInputDialog(const std::string &acceptButton, const std::string &hint,
 			jacceptButton, jhint, jcurrent, jeditType);
 }
 
-void openURIAndroid(const std::string &url)
+void openURIAndroid(const char *url)
 {
 	jmethodID url_open = jnienv->GetMethodID(nativeActivity, "openURI",
 		"(Ljava/lang/String;)V");
@@ -191,7 +184,7 @@ void openURIAndroid(const std::string &url)
 	FATAL_ERROR_IF(url_open == nullptr,
 		"porting::openURIAndroid unable to find Java openURI method");
 
-	jstring jurl = jnienv->NewStringUTF(url.c_str());
+	jstring jurl = jnienv->NewStringUTF(url);
 	jnienv->CallVoidMethod(app_global->activity->clazz, url_open, jurl);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/porting_android.h b/src/porting_android.h
index d8cfc18d4..e5e75481d 100644
--- a/src/porting_android.h
+++ b/src/porting_android.h
@@ -36,16 +36,6 @@ extern android_app *app_global;
 // java <-> c++ interaction interface
 extern JNIEnv *jnienv;
 
-// do initialization required on android only
-void initAndroid();
-
-void cleanupAndroid();
-
-/**
- * Initializes path_* variables for Android
- */
-void initializePathsAndroid();
-
 /**
  * show text input dialog in java
  * @param acceptButton text to display on accept button
@@ -57,8 +47,6 @@ void initializePathsAndroid();
 void showInputDialog(const std::string &acceptButton,
 					const std::string &hint, const std::string &current, int editType);
 
-void openURIAndroid(const std::string &url);
-
 /**
  * Opens a share intent to the file at path
  *