diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 9f467d3820..1d718bdb96 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -1905,12 +1905,7 @@ pack.useBitmaps::
 	you are debugging pack bitmaps.
 
 pack.writebitmaps::
-	When true, git will write a bitmap index when packing all
-	objects to disk (e.g., when `git repack -a` is run).  This
-	index can speed up the "counting objects" phase of subsequent
-	packs created for clones and fetches, at the cost of some disk
-	space and extra time spent on the initial repack.  Defaults to
-	false.
+	This is a deprecated synonym for `repack.writeBitmaps`.
 
 pack.writeBitmapHashCache::
 	When true, git will include a "hash cache" section in the bitmap
@@ -2187,7 +2182,15 @@ repack.packKeptObjects::
 	`--pack-kept-objects` was passed. See linkgit:git-repack[1] for
 	details. Defaults to `false` normally, but `true` if a bitmap
 	index is being written (either via `--write-bitmap-index` or
-	`pack.writeBitmaps`).
+	`repack.writeBitmaps`).
+
+repack.writeBitmaps::
+	When true, git will write a bitmap index when packing all
+	objects to disk (e.g., when `git repack -a` is run).  This
+	index can speed up the "counting objects" phase of subsequent
+	packs created for clones and fetches, at the cost of some disk
+	space and extra time spent on the initial repack.  Defaults to
+	false.
 
 rerere.autoupdate::
 	When set to true, `git-rerere` updates the index with the
diff --git a/builtin/pack-objects.c b/builtin/pack-objects.c
index de36c60ca1..238b5021eb 100644
--- a/builtin/pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin/pack-objects.c
@@ -2214,10 +2214,6 @@ static int git_pack_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 		cache_max_small_delta_size = git_config_int(k, v);
 		return 0;
 	}
-	if (!strcmp(k, "pack.writebitmaps")) {
-		write_bitmap_index = git_config_bool(k, v);
-		return 0;
-	}
 	if (!strcmp(k, "pack.writebitmaphashcache")) {
 		if (git_config_bool(k, v))
 			write_bitmap_options |= BITMAP_OPT_HASH_CACHE;
diff --git a/builtin/repack.c b/builtin/repack.c
index 36c1cf9c25..ff2216a7aa 100644
--- a/builtin/repack.c
+++ b/builtin/repack.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 static int delta_base_offset = 1;
 static int pack_kept_objects = -1;
-static int write_bitmaps = -1;
+static int write_bitmaps;
 static char *packdir, *packtmp;
 
 static const char *const git_repack_usage[] = {
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ static int repack_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 		pack_kept_objects = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
 	}
-	if (!strcmp(var, "pack.writebitmaps")) {
+	if (!strcmp(var, "repack.writebitmaps") ||
+	    !strcmp(var, "pack.writebitmaps")) {
 		write_bitmaps = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
 	}
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ int cmd_repack(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 				git_repack_usage, 0);
 
 	if (pack_kept_objects < 0)
-		pack_kept_objects = write_bitmaps > 0;
+		pack_kept_objects = write_bitmaps;
 
 	packdir = mkpathdup("%s/pack", get_object_directory());
 	packtmp = mkpathdup("%s/.tmp-%d-pack", packdir, (int)getpid());
@@ -221,9 +222,8 @@ int cmd_repack(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		argv_array_pushf(&cmd_args, "--no-reuse-delta");
 	if (no_reuse_object)
 		argv_array_pushf(&cmd_args, "--no-reuse-object");
-	if (write_bitmaps >= 0)
-		argv_array_pushf(&cmd_args, "--%swrite-bitmap-index",
-				 write_bitmaps ? "" : "no-");
+	if (write_bitmaps)
+		argv_array_push(&cmd_args, "--write-bitmap-index");
 
 	if (pack_everything & ALL_INTO_ONE) {
 		get_non_kept_pack_filenames(&existing_packs);
diff --git a/t/perf/p5310-pack-bitmaps.sh b/t/perf/p5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
index 685d46f8b7..f8ed8573b7 100755
--- a/t/perf/p5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
+++ b/t/perf/p5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ test_perf_large_repo
 # note that we do everything through config,
 # since we want to be able to compare bitmap-aware
 # git versus non-bitmap git
+#
+# We intentionally use the deprecated pack.writebitmaps
+# config so that we can test against older versions of git.
 test_expect_success 'setup bitmap config' '
 	git config pack.writebitmaps true &&
 	git config pack.writebitmaphashcache true
diff --git a/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh b/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
index f4f02ba918..0580258c91 100755
--- a/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
+++ b/t/t5310-pack-bitmaps.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ test_expect_success 'setup repo with moderate-sized history' '
 	git checkout master &&
 	blob=$(echo tagged-blob | git hash-object -w --stdin) &&
 	git tag tagged-blob $blob &&
-	git config pack.writebitmaps true &&
+	git config repack.writebitmaps true &&
 	git config pack.writebitmaphashcache true
 '
 
diff --git a/t/t7700-repack.sh b/t/t7700-repack.sh
index 61e6ed37aa..021c5479bd 100755
--- a/t/t7700-repack.sh
+++ b/t/t7700-repack.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ test_expect_success 'objects in packs marked .keep are not repacked' '
 	objsha1=$(git verify-pack -v pack-$packsha1.idx | head -n 1 |
 		sed -e "s/^\([0-9a-f]\{40\}\).*/\1/") &&
 	mv pack-* .git/objects/pack/ &&
-	git repack --no-pack-kept-objects -A -d -l &&
+	git repack -A -d -l &&
 	git prune-packed &&
 	for p in .git/objects/pack/*.idx; do
 		idx=$(basename $p)
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ test_expect_success 'writing bitmaps via command-line can duplicate .keep object
 
 test_expect_success 'writing bitmaps via config can duplicate .keep objects' '
 	# build on $objsha1, $packsha1, and .keep state from previous
-	git -c pack.writebitmaps=true repack -Adl &&
+	git -c repack.writebitmaps=true repack -Adl &&
 	test_when_finished "found_duplicate_object=" &&
 	for p in .git/objects/pack/*.idx; do
 		idx=$(basename $p)