diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 83f36d7cde..d9bb72bf49 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -94,19 +94,6 @@ static int git_fetch_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 	return git_default_config(k, v, cb);
 }
 
-static int gitmodules_fetch_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
-{
-	if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.fetchjobs")) {
-		max_children = parse_submodule_fetchjobs(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	} else if (!strcmp(var, "fetch.recursesubmodules")) {
-		recurse_submodules = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static int parse_refmap_arg(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset)
 {
 	/*
@@ -1434,7 +1421,7 @@ int cmd_fetch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
 		strbuf_addf(&default_rla, " %s", argv[i]);
 
-	config_from_gitmodules(gitmodules_fetch_config, NULL);
+	fetch_config_from_gitmodules(&max_children, &recurse_submodules);
 	git_config(git_fetch_config, NULL);
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 216e3daf5c..a3c4564c6c 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -1708,8 +1708,8 @@ static int update_clone_task_finished(int result,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int gitmodules_update_clone_config(const char *var, const char *value,
-					  void *cb)
+static int git_update_clone_config(const char *var, const char *value,
+				   void *cb)
 {
 	int *max_jobs = cb;
 	if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.fetchjobs"))
@@ -1759,8 +1759,8 @@ static int update_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	};
 	suc.prefix = prefix;
 
-	config_from_gitmodules(gitmodules_update_clone_config, &max_jobs);
-	git_config(gitmodules_update_clone_config, &max_jobs);
+	update_clone_config_from_gitmodules(&max_jobs);
+	git_config(git_update_clone_config, &max_jobs);
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_update_clone_options,
 			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 139c903f6b..7968ef7566 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2173,23 +2173,6 @@ int git_config_get_pathname(const char *key, const char **dest)
 	return repo_config_get_pathname(the_repository, key, dest);
 }
 
-/*
- * Note: This function exists solely to maintain backward compatibility with
- * 'fetch' and 'update_clone' storing configuration in '.gitmodules' and should
- * NOT be used anywhere else.
- *
- * Runs the provided config function on the '.gitmodules' file found in the
- * working directory.
- */
-void config_from_gitmodules(config_fn_t fn, void *data)
-{
-	if (the_repository->worktree) {
-		char *file = repo_worktree_path(the_repository, GITMODULES_FILE);
-		git_config_from_file(fn, file, data);
-		free(file);
-	}
-}
-
 int git_config_get_expiry(const char *key, const char **output)
 {
 	int ret = git_config_get_string_const(key, output);
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 626d4654bd..b95bb7649d 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -215,16 +215,6 @@ extern int repo_config_get_maybe_bool(struct repository *repo,
 extern int repo_config_get_pathname(struct repository *repo,
 				    const char *key, const char **dest);
 
-/*
- * Note: This function exists solely to maintain backward compatibility with
- * 'fetch' and 'update_clone' storing configuration in '.gitmodules' and should
- * NOT be used anywhere else.
- *
- * Runs the provided config function on the '.gitmodules' file found in the
- * working directory.
- */
-extern void config_from_gitmodules(config_fn_t fn, void *data);
-
 extern int git_config_get_value(const char *key, const char **value);
 extern const struct string_list *git_config_get_value_multi(const char *key);
 extern void git_config_clear(void);
diff --git a/submodule-config.c b/submodule-config.c
index ca324a9e37..2a7259ba8b 100644
--- a/submodule-config.c
+++ b/submodule-config.c
@@ -592,6 +592,23 @@ static void submodule_cache_check_init(struct repository *repo)
 	submodule_cache_init(repo->submodule_cache);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Note: This function is private for a reason, the '.gitmodules' file should
+ * not be used as as a mechanism to retrieve arbitrary configuration stored in
+ * the repository.
+ *
+ * Runs the provided config function on the '.gitmodules' file found in the
+ * working directory.
+ */
+static void config_from_gitmodules(config_fn_t fn, struct repository *repo, void *data)
+{
+	if (repo->worktree) {
+		char *file = repo_worktree_path(repo, GITMODULES_FILE);
+		git_config_from_file(fn, file, data);
+		free(file);
+	}
+}
+
 static int gitmodules_cb(const char *var, const char *value, void *data)
 {
 	struct repository *repo = data;
@@ -609,19 +626,11 @@ void repo_read_gitmodules(struct repository *repo)
 {
 	submodule_cache_check_init(repo);
 
-	if (repo->worktree) {
-		char *gitmodules;
+	if (repo_read_index(repo) < 0)
+		return;
 
-		if (repo_read_index(repo) < 0)
-			return;
-
-		gitmodules = repo_worktree_path(repo, GITMODULES_FILE);
-
-		if (!is_gitmodules_unmerged(repo->index))
-			git_config_from_file(gitmodules_cb, gitmodules, repo);
-
-		free(gitmodules);
-	}
+	if (!is_gitmodules_unmerged(repo->index))
+		config_from_gitmodules(gitmodules_cb, repo, repo);
 
 	repo->submodule_cache->gitmodules_read = 1;
 }
@@ -672,3 +681,45 @@ void submodule_free(struct repository *r)
 	if (r->submodule_cache)
 		submodule_cache_clear(r->submodule_cache);
 }
+
+struct fetch_config {
+	int *max_children;
+	int *recurse_submodules;
+};
+
+static int gitmodules_fetch_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
+{
+	struct fetch_config *config = cb;
+	if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.fetchjobs")) {
+		*(config->max_children) = parse_submodule_fetchjobs(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	} else if (!strcmp(var, "fetch.recursesubmodules")) {
+		*(config->recurse_submodules) = parse_fetch_recurse_submodules_arg(var, value);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+void fetch_config_from_gitmodules(int *max_children, int *recurse_submodules)
+{
+	struct fetch_config config = {
+		.max_children = max_children,
+		.recurse_submodules = recurse_submodules
+	};
+	config_from_gitmodules(gitmodules_fetch_config, the_repository, &config);
+}
+
+static int gitmodules_update_clone_config(const char *var, const char *value,
+					  void *cb)
+{
+	int *max_jobs = cb;
+	if (!strcmp(var, "submodule.fetchjobs"))
+		*max_jobs = parse_submodule_fetchjobs(var, value);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+void update_clone_config_from_gitmodules(int *max_jobs)
+{
+	config_from_gitmodules(gitmodules_update_clone_config, the_repository, &max_jobs);
+}
diff --git a/submodule-config.h b/submodule-config.h
index ca1f94e2d2..dc7278eea4 100644
--- a/submodule-config.h
+++ b/submodule-config.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #define SUBMODULE_CONFIG_CACHE_H
 
 #include "cache.h"
+#include "config.h"
 #include "hashmap.h"
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "strbuf.h"
@@ -55,4 +56,15 @@ void submodule_free(struct repository *r);
  */
 int check_submodule_name(const char *name);
 
+/*
+ * Note: these helper functions exist solely to maintain backward
+ * compatibility with 'fetch' and 'update_clone' storing configuration in
+ * '.gitmodules'.
+ *
+ * New helpers to retrieve arbitrary configuration from the '.gitmodules' file
+ * should NOT be added.
+ */
+extern void fetch_config_from_gitmodules(int *max_children, int *recurse_submodules);
+extern void update_clone_config_from_gitmodules(int *max_jobs);
+
 #endif /* SUBMODULE_CONFIG_H */