diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 9b6afca210..18a6bdd9ff 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -3311,6 +3311,8 @@ const char *config_scope_name(enum config_scope scope)
 		return "worktree";
 	case CONFIG_SCOPE_COMMAND:
 		return "command";
+	case CONFIG_SCOPE_SUBMODULE:
+		return "submodule";
 	default:
 		return "unknown";
 	}
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 165cacb7da..fe0addb0dc 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ enum config_scope {
 	CONFIG_SCOPE_LOCAL,
 	CONFIG_SCOPE_WORKTREE,
 	CONFIG_SCOPE_COMMAND,
+	CONFIG_SCOPE_SUBMODULE,
 };
 const char *config_scope_name(enum config_scope scope);
 
diff --git a/submodule-config.c b/submodule-config.c
index 85064810b2..b8e97d8ae8 100644
--- a/submodule-config.c
+++ b/submodule-config.c
@@ -635,7 +635,9 @@ static void submodule_cache_check_init(struct repository *repo)
 static void config_from_gitmodules(config_fn_t fn, struct repository *repo, void *data)
 {
 	if (repo->worktree) {
-		struct git_config_source config_source = { 0 };
+		struct git_config_source config_source = {
+			0, .scope = CONFIG_SCOPE_SUBMODULE
+		};
 		const struct config_options opts = { 0 };
 		struct object_id oid;
 		char *file;