diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index fe1e44a43a..0e2c693e78 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1702,6 +1702,7 @@ static int do_git_config_sequence(const struct config_options *opts,
 	char *xdg_config = xdg_config_home("config");
 	char *user_config = expand_user_path("~/.gitconfig", 0);
 	char *repo_config;
+	enum config_scope prev_parsing_scope = current_parsing_scope;
 
 	if (opts->commondir)
 		repo_config = mkpathdup("%s/config", opts->commondir);
@@ -1741,7 +1742,7 @@ static int do_git_config_sequence(const struct config_options *opts,
 	if (!opts->ignore_cmdline && git_config_from_parameters(fn, data) < 0)
 		die(_("unable to parse command-line config"));
 
-	current_parsing_scope = CONFIG_SCOPE_UNKNOWN;
+	current_parsing_scope = prev_parsing_scope;
 	free(xdg_config);
 	free(user_config);
 	free(repo_config);