diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index d9e3b9d2ec..e5c3d082ed 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -1916,7 +1916,7 @@ static int maintenance_register(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	git_config_set("maintenance.auto", "false");
 
 	/* Set maintenance strategy, if unset */
-	if (git_config_get("maintenance.strategy"))
+	if (repo_config_get(the_repository, "maintenance.strategy"))
 		git_config_set("maintenance.strategy", "incremental");
 
 	if (!git_config_get_string_multi(key, &list)) {
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 89ee09abea..6bcc741a6a 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ static int module_init(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	 * If there are no path args and submodule.active is set then,
 	 * by default, only initialize 'active' modules.
 	 */
-	if (!argc && !git_config_get("submodule.active"))
+	if (!argc && !repo_config_get(the_repository, "submodule.active"))
 		module_list_active(&list);
 
 	info.prefix = prefix;
@@ -2878,7 +2878,7 @@ static int module_update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 		 * If there are no path args and submodule.active is set then,
 		 * by default, only initialize 'active' modules.
 		 */
-		if (!argc && !git_config_get("submodule.active"))
+		if (!argc && !repo_config_get(the_repository, "submodule.active"))
 			module_list_active(&list);
 
 		info.prefix = opt.prefix;
@@ -3349,7 +3349,7 @@ static void configure_added_submodule(struct add_data *add_data)
 	 * is_submodule_active(), since that function needs to find
 	 * out the value of "submodule.active" again anyway.
 	 */
-	if (!git_config_get("submodule.active")) {
+	if (!repo_config_get(the_repository, "submodule.active")) {
 		/*
 		 * If the submodule being added isn't already covered by the
 		 * current configured pathspec, set the submodule's active flag
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 4eea99e9b9..9261ed0f8d 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -719,11 +719,6 @@ NORETURN void git_die_config_linenr(const char *key, const char *filename, int l
 int lookup_config(const char **mapping, int nr_mapping, const char *var);
 
 # ifdef USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-static inline int git_config_get(const char *key)
-{
-	return repo_config_get(the_repository, key);
-}
-
 static inline int git_config_get_value(const char *key, const char **value)
 {
 	return repo_config_get_value(the_repository, key, value);
diff --git a/t/helper/test-config.c b/t/helper/test-config.c
index 41ba864790..cacf6f306b 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-config.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-config.c
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ int cmd__config(int argc, const char **argv)
 	} else if (argc == 3 && !strcmp(argv[1], "get")) {
 		int ret;
 
-		if (!(ret = git_config_get(argv[2])))
+		if (!(ret = repo_config_get(the_repository, argv[2])))
 			goto exit0;
 		else if (ret == 1)
 			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);