diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8fd766588a..6fc4d3292e 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1649,6 +1649,8 @@ static int do_git_config_sequence(const struct config_options *opts,
 
 	if (opts->commondir)
 		repo_config = mkpathdup("%s/config", opts->commondir);
+	else if (opts->git_dir)
+		repo_config = mkpathdup("%s/config", opts->git_dir);
 	else
 		repo_config = NULL;