diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 82ac4be8a5..5c0e3ab084 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -645,7 +645,7 @@ static void prepare_format_display(struct ref *ref_map)
 	struct ref *rm;
 	const char *format = "full";
 
-	git_config_get_string_const("fetch.output", &format);
+	git_config_get_string_tmp("fetch.output", &format);
 	if (!strcasecmp(format, "full"))
 		compact_format = 0;
 	else if (!strcasecmp(format, "compact"))
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 7f90770596..acee0be638 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -1511,7 +1511,7 @@ static void determine_submodule_update_strategy(struct repository *r,
 		if (parse_submodule_update_strategy(update, out) < 0)
 			die(_("Invalid update mode '%s' for submodule path '%s'"),
 				update, path);
-	} else if (!repo_config_get_string_const(r, key, &val)) {
+	} else if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(r, key, &val)) {
 		if (parse_submodule_update_strategy(val, out) < 0)
 			die(_("Invalid update mode '%s' configured for submodule path '%s'"),
 				val, path);
@@ -1667,7 +1667,7 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 	}
 
 	key = xstrfmt("submodule.%s.update", sub->name);
-	if (!repo_config_get_string_const(the_repository, key, &update_string)) {
+	if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, &update_string)) {
 		update_type = parse_submodule_update_type(update_string);
 	} else {
 		update_type = sub->update_strategy.type;
@@ -1690,7 +1690,7 @@ static int prepare_to_clone_next_submodule(const struct cache_entry *ce,
 
 	strbuf_reset(&sb);
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "submodule.%s.url", sub->name);
-	if (repo_config_get_string_const(the_repository, sb.buf, &url)) {
+	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, sb.buf, &url)) {
 		if (starts_with_dot_slash(sub->url) ||
 		    starts_with_dot_dot_slash(sub->url)) {
 			url = compute_submodule_clone_url(sub->url);
@@ -1976,7 +1976,7 @@ static const char *remote_submodule_branch(const char *path)
 		return NULL;
 
 	key = xstrfmt("submodule.%s.branch", sub->name);
-	if (repo_config_get_string_const(the_repository, key, &branch))
+	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, &branch))
 		branch = sub->branch;
 	free(key);
 
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8db9c77098..facd73d40a 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2020,6 +2020,20 @@ int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest
 	return git_configset_get_string_const(cs, key, (const char **)dest);
 }
 
+int git_configset_get_string_tmp(struct config_set *cs, const char *key,
+				 const char **dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value)) {
+		if (!value)
+			return config_error_nonbool(key);
+		*dest = value;
+		return 0;
+	} else {
+		return 1;
+	}
+}
+
 int git_configset_get_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest)
 {
 	const char *value;
@@ -2165,6 +2179,17 @@ int repo_config_get_string(struct repository *repo,
 	return repo_config_get_string_const(repo, key, (const char **)dest);
 }
 
+int repo_config_get_string_tmp(struct repository *repo,
+			       const char *key, const char **dest)
+{
+	int ret;
+	git_config_check_init(repo);
+	ret = git_configset_get_string_tmp(repo->config, key, dest);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		git_die_config(key, NULL);
+	return ret;
+}
+
 int repo_config_get_int(struct repository *repo,
 			const char *key, int *dest)
 {
@@ -2242,6 +2267,11 @@ int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest)
 	return repo_config_get_string(the_repository, key, dest);
 }
 
+int git_config_get_string_tmp(const char *key, const char **dest)
+{
+	return repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, dest);
+}
+
 int git_config_get_int(const char *key, int *dest)
 {
 	return repo_config_get_int(the_repository, key, dest);
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 060874488f..a75b22e0d1 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -460,6 +460,7 @@ int git_configset_get_value(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char *
 
 int git_configset_get_string_const(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
 int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest);
+int git_configset_get_string_tmp(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
 int git_configset_get_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest);
 int git_configset_get_ulong(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, unsigned long *dest);
 int git_configset_get_bool(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest);
@@ -478,6 +479,8 @@ int repo_config_get_string_const(struct repository *repo,
 				 const char *key, const char **dest);
 int repo_config_get_string(struct repository *repo,
 			   const char *key, char **dest);
+int repo_config_get_string_tmp(struct repository *repo,
+			       const char *key, const char **dest);
 int repo_config_get_int(struct repository *repo,
 			const char *key, int *dest);
 int repo_config_get_ulong(struct repository *repo,
@@ -537,6 +540,13 @@ int git_config_get_string_const(const char *key, const char **dest);
  */
 int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest);
 
+/**
+ * Similar to `git_config_get_string_const`, but does not allocate any new
+ * memory; on success `dest` will point to memory owned by the config
+ * machinery, which could be invalidated if it is discarded and reloaded.
+ */
+int git_config_get_string_tmp(const char *key, const char **dest);
+
 /**
  * Finds and parses the value to an integer for the configuration variable
  * `key`. Dies on error; otherwise, stores the value of the parsed integer in
diff --git a/connect.c b/connect.c
index e0d5b9fee0..3a555611d6 100644
--- a/connect.c
+++ b/connect.c
@@ -1052,7 +1052,7 @@ static const char *get_ssh_command(void)
 	if ((ssh = getenv("GIT_SSH_COMMAND")))
 		return ssh;
 
-	if (!git_config_get_string_const("core.sshcommand", &ssh))
+	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp("core.sshcommand", &ssh))
 		return ssh;
 
 	return NULL;
@@ -1071,7 +1071,7 @@ static void override_ssh_variant(enum ssh_variant *ssh_variant)
 {
 	const char *variant = getenv("GIT_SSH_VARIANT");
 
-	if (!variant && git_config_get_string_const("ssh.variant", &variant))
+	if (!variant && git_config_get_string_tmp("ssh.variant", &variant))
 		return;
 
 	if (!strcmp(variant, "auto"))
diff --git a/editor.c b/editor.c
index 91989ee8a1..6303ae0ab0 100644
--- a/editor.c
+++ b/editor.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ const char *git_sequence_editor(void)
 	const char *editor = getenv("GIT_SEQUENCE_EDITOR");
 
 	if (!editor)
-		git_config_get_string_const("sequence.editor", &editor);
+		git_config_get_string_tmp("sequence.editor", &editor);
 	if (!editor)
 		editor = git_editor();
 
diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
index 44cee69c11..d41c36a242 100644
--- a/help.c
+++ b/help.c
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ void list_cmds_by_config(struct string_list *list)
 {
 	const char *cmd_list;
 
-	if (git_config_get_string_const("completion.commands", &cmd_list))
+	if (git_config_get_string_tmp("completion.commands", &cmd_list))
 		return;
 
 	string_list_sort(list);
diff --git a/protocol.c b/protocol.c
index d1dd3424bb..8d964fc65e 100644
--- a/protocol.c
+++ b/protocol.c
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ enum protocol_version get_protocol_version_config(void)
 	const char *git_test_k = "GIT_TEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION";
 	const char *git_test_v;
 
-	if (!git_config_get_string_const("protocol.version", &value)) {
+	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp("protocol.version", &value)) {
 		enum protocol_version version = parse_protocol_version(value);
 
 		if (version == protocol_unknown_version)
diff --git a/submodule.c b/submodule.c
index e2ef5698c8..842903c07d 100644
--- a/submodule.c
+++ b/submodule.c
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ void set_diffopt_flags_from_submodule_config(struct diff_options *diffopt,
 		char *key;
 
 		key = xstrfmt("submodule.%s.ignore", submodule->name);
-		if (repo_config_get_string_const(the_repository, key, &ignore))
+		if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, &ignore))
 			ignore = submodule->ignore;
 		free(key);
 
@@ -1299,7 +1299,7 @@ static int get_fetch_recurse_config(const struct submodule *submodule,
 
 		int fetch_recurse = submodule->fetch_recurse;
 		key = xstrfmt("submodule.%s.fetchRecurseSubmodules", submodule->name);
-		if (!repo_config_get_string_const(spf->r, key, &value)) {
+		if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(spf->r, key, &value)) {
 			fetch_recurse = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(key, value);
 		}
 		free(key);
diff --git a/t/helper/test-config.c b/t/helper/test-config.c
index 234c722b48..a6e936721f 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-config.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-config.c
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ int cmd__config(int argc, const char **argv)
 			goto exit1;
 		}
 	} else if (argc == 3 && !strcmp(argv[1], "get_string")) {
-		if (!git_config_get_string_const(argv[2], &v)) {
+		if (!git_config_get_string_tmp(argv[2], &v)) {
 			printf("%s\n", v);
 			goto exit0;
 		} else {