diff --git a/branch.c b/branch.c
index 3dc237adf6..26be358347 100644
--- a/branch.c
+++ b/branch.c
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ static int install_branch_config_multiple_remotes(int flag, const char *local,
 	if (repo_config_set_gently(the_repository, key.buf, NULL) < 0)
 		goto out_err;
 	for_each_string_list_item(item, remotes)
-		if (git_config_set_multivar_gently(key.buf, item->string, CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0) < 0)
+		if (repo_config_set_multivar_gently(the_repository, key.buf, item->string, CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0) < 0)
 			goto out_err;
 
 	if (rebasing) {
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index f025a8f19e..183297787c 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -762,16 +762,16 @@ static int write_one_config(const char *key, const char *value,
 {
 	/*
 	 * give git_clone_config a chance to write config values back to the
-	 * environment, since git_config_set_multivar_gently only deals with
+	 * environment, since repo_config_set_multivar_gently only deals with
 	 * config-file writes
 	 */
 	int apply_failed = git_clone_config(key, value, ctx, data);
 	if (apply_failed)
 		return apply_failed;
 
-	return git_config_set_multivar_gently(key,
-					      value ? value : "true",
-					      CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0);
+	return repo_config_set_multivar_gently(the_repository, key,
+					       value ? value : "true",
+					       CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0);
 }
 
 static void write_config(struct string_list *config)
diff --git a/builtin/remote.c b/builtin/remote.c
index 827639e039..dd340a3325 100644
--- a/builtin/remote.c
+++ b/builtin/remote.c
@@ -1633,8 +1633,8 @@ static int update(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 
 static int remove_all_fetch_refspecs(const char *key)
 {
-	return git_config_set_multivar_gently(key, NULL, NULL,
-					      CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE);
+	return repo_config_set_multivar_gently(the_repository, key, NULL, NULL,
+					       CONFIG_FLAGS_MULTI_REPLACE);
 }
 
 static void add_branches(struct remote *remote, const char **branches,
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index e69592ada1..a90b814292 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -745,13 +745,6 @@ static inline void git_config_set_multivar_in_file(
 					 key, value, value_pattern, flags);
 }
 
-static inline int git_config_set_multivar_gently(const char *key, const char *value,
-				   const char *value_pattern, unsigned flags)
-{
-	return repo_config_set_multivar_gently(the_repository, key, value,
-					       value_pattern, flags);
-}
-
 static inline void git_config_set_multivar(const char *key, const char *value,
 			     const char *value_pattern, unsigned flags)
 {
diff --git a/scalar.c b/scalar.c
index c09c5ca194..4a373c133d 100644
--- a/scalar.c
+++ b/scalar.c
@@ -196,9 +196,9 @@ static int set_recommended_config(int reconfigure)
 	if (repo_config_get_string(the_repository, "log.excludeDecoration", &value)) {
 		trace2_data_string("scalar", the_repository,
 				   "log.excludeDecoration", "created");
-		if (git_config_set_multivar_gently("log.excludeDecoration",
-						   "refs/prefetch/*",
-						   CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0))
+		if (repo_config_set_multivar_gently(the_repository, "log.excludeDecoration",
+						    "refs/prefetch/*",
+						    CONFIG_REGEX_NONE, 0))
 			return error(_("could not configure "
 				       "log.excludeDecoration"));
 	} else {