diff --git a/builtin/checkout.c b/builtin/checkout.c
index 6db7f39492..7e18b87c7a 100644
--- a/builtin/checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/checkout.c
@@ -951,6 +951,8 @@ static void update_refs_for_switch(const struct checkout_opts *opts,
 	const char *old_desc, *reflog_msg;
 	if (opts->new_branch) {
 		if (opts->new_orphan_branch) {
+			enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates =
+				repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(the_repository);
 			char *refname;
 
 			refname = mkpathdup("refs/heads/%s", opts->new_orphan_branch);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index f3066c3747..47101c3e97 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1452,16 +1452,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.logallrefupdates")) {
-		if (value && !strcasecmp(value, "always"))
-			log_all_ref_updates = LOG_REFS_ALWAYS;
-		else if (git_config_bool(var, value))
-			log_all_ref_updates = LOG_REFS_NORMAL;
-		else
-			log_all_ref_updates = LOG_REFS_NONE;
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.warnambiguousrefs")) {
 		warn_ambiguous_refs = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 64ae13ef24..992d87e0d6 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
 int precomposed_unicode = -1; /* see probe_utf8_pathname_composition() */
 unsigned long pack_size_limit_cfg;
-enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates = LOG_REFS_UNSET;
 int max_allowed_tree_depth =
 #ifdef _MSC_VER
 	/*
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 0b4e5afc36..315fd31995 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -181,8 +181,6 @@ extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
-extern enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates;
-
 enum rebase_setup_type {
 	AUTOREBASE_NEVER = 0,
 	AUTOREBASE_LOCAL,
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index f5871abcf7..a536d7d1b5 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ struct files_ref_store {
 	unsigned int store_flags;
 
 	char *gitcommondir;
+	enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates;
 
 	struct ref_cache *loose;
 
@@ -107,6 +108,7 @@ static struct ref_store *files_ref_store_init(struct repository *repo,
 	refs->gitcommondir = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
 	refs->packed_ref_store =
 		packed_ref_store_init(repo, refs->gitcommondir, flags);
+	refs->log_all_ref_updates = repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(repo);
 
 	chdir_notify_reparent("files-backend $GIT_DIR", &refs->base.gitdir);
 	chdir_notify_reparent("files-backend $GIT_COMMONDIR",
@@ -1704,7 +1706,7 @@ static int log_ref_setup(struct files_ref_store *refs,
 			 const char *refname, int force_create,
 			 int *logfd, struct strbuf *err)
 {
-	enum log_refs_config log_refs_cfg = log_all_ref_updates;
+	enum log_refs_config log_refs_cfg = refs->log_all_ref_updates;
 	struct strbuf logfile_sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 	char *logfile;
 
diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
index c78186423a..043e19439f 100644
--- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ struct reftable_ref_store {
 	struct reftable_write_options write_options;
 
 	unsigned int store_flags;
+	enum log_refs_config log_all_ref_updates;
 	int err;
 };
 
@@ -157,21 +158,21 @@ static struct reftable_stack *stack_for(struct reftable_ref_store *store,
 	}
 }
 
-static int should_write_log(struct ref_store *refs, const char *refname)
+static int should_write_log(struct reftable_ref_store *refs, const char *refname)
 {
-	enum log_refs_config log_refs_cfg = log_all_ref_updates;
+	enum log_refs_config log_refs_cfg = refs->log_all_ref_updates;
 	if (log_refs_cfg == LOG_REFS_UNSET)
 		log_refs_cfg = is_bare_repository() ? LOG_REFS_NONE : LOG_REFS_NORMAL;
 
 	switch (log_refs_cfg) {
 	case LOG_REFS_NONE:
-		return refs_reflog_exists(refs, refname);
+		return refs_reflog_exists(&refs->base, refname);
 	case LOG_REFS_ALWAYS:
 		return 1;
 	case LOG_REFS_NORMAL:
 		if (should_autocreate_reflog(log_refs_cfg, refname))
 			return 1;
-		return refs_reflog_exists(refs, refname);
+		return refs_reflog_exists(&refs->base, refname);
 	default:
 		BUG("unhandled core.logAllRefUpdates value %d", log_refs_cfg);
 	}
@@ -278,6 +279,7 @@ static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 	base_ref_store_init(&refs->base, repo, gitdir, &refs_be_reftable);
 	strmap_init(&refs->worktree_stacks);
 	refs->store_flags = store_flags;
+	refs->log_all_ref_updates = repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(repo);
 
 	refs->write_options.hash_id = repo->hash_algo->format_id;
 	refs->write_options.default_permissions = calc_shared_perm(0666 & ~mask);
@@ -1220,7 +1222,7 @@ static int write_transaction_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *cb_data
 		} else if (!(u->flags & REF_SKIP_CREATE_REFLOG) &&
 			   (u->flags & REF_HAVE_NEW) &&
 			   (u->flags & REF_FORCE_CREATE_REFLOG ||
-			    should_write_log(&arg->refs->base, u->refname))) {
+			    should_write_log(arg->refs, u->refname))) {
 			struct reftable_log_record *log;
 			int create_reflog = 1;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 3a76ba276c..1322fd2f97 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -124,3 +124,19 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 	 */
 	r->settings.command_requires_full_index = 1;
 }
+
+enum log_refs_config repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(struct repository *repo)
+{
+	const char *value;
+
+	if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(repo, "core.logallrefupdates", &value)) {
+		if (value && !strcasecmp(value, "always"))
+			return LOG_REFS_ALWAYS;
+		else if (git_config_bool("core.logallrefupdates", value))
+			return LOG_REFS_NORMAL;
+		else
+			return LOG_REFS_NONE;
+	}
+
+	return LOG_REFS_UNSET;
+}
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index d03b6e57f0..76adb96a66 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -65,4 +65,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 
 void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r);
 
+/* Read the value for "core.logAllRefUpdates". */
+enum log_refs_config repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(struct repository *repo);
+
 #endif /* REPO_SETTINGS_H */
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index 19cce5afa7..7499191472 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -2354,7 +2354,7 @@ static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 	else {
 		git_config_set("core.bare", "false");
 		/* allow template config file to override the default */
-		if (log_all_ref_updates == LOG_REFS_UNSET)
+		if (repo_settings_get_log_all_ref_updates(the_repository) == LOG_REFS_UNSET)
 			git_config_set("core.logallrefupdates", "true");
 		if (needs_work_tree_config(original_git_dir, work_tree))
 			git_config_set("core.worktree", work_tree);