patchenvironment: move access to "core.sparsecheckout" into repo_settings

builtin/backfill.c, builtin/clone.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, builtin/worktree.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c, wt-status.c

diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index fa82ad2f6f..d397b8e721 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-/* We need this macro to access core_apply_sparse_checkout */
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "config.h"
@@ -139,7 +136,7 @@ int cmd_backfill(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, struct reposit
 	repo_config(repo, git_default_config, NULL);
 
 	if (ctx.sparse < 0)
-		ctx.sparse = core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+		ctx.sparse = repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(repo);
 
 	result = do_backfill(&ctx);
 	backfill_context_clear(&ctx);
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 91b9cd0d16..1d1cd880c4 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ static int git_sparse_checkout_init(const char *repo)
 	 * We must apply the setting in the current process
 	 * for the later checkout to use the sparse-checkout file.
 	 */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (run_command(&cmd)) {
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 07548fe96a..dc9d0b1ab3 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 		rename_index_entry_at(the_repository->index, pos, dst);
 
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
-		    core_apply_sparse_checkout &&
+		    repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository) &&
 		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 1bf01591b2..41e3a9d61d 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int res;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("this worktree is not sparse"));
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
@@ -397,11 +397,11 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
-	if (*cone_mode == -1 && core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (*cone_mode == -1 && repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ static int update_modes(int *cone_mode, int *sparse_index)
 	int mode, record_mode;
 
 	/* Determine if we need to record the mode; ensure sparse checkout on */
-	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository);
 
 	mode = update_cone_mode(cone_mode);
 	if (record_mode && set_config(mode))
@@ -695,9 +695,9 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 		break;
 	}
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout) {
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository)) {
 		set_config(MODE_ALL_PATTERNS);
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+		repo_settings_set_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 		changed_config = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int ret;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("no sparse-checkout to add to"));
 
 	repo_read_index(the_repository);
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_reapply(int argc, const char **argv,
 	};
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("must be in a sparse-checkout to reapply sparsity patterns"));
 
 	reapply_opts.cone_mode = -1;
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	hashmap_init(&pl.recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	hashmap_init(&pl.parent_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	pl.use_cone_patterns = 0;
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 
 	add_pattern("/*", empty_base, 0, &pl, 0);
 
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 88a36ea9f8..a6044dbe5f 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * If the current worktree has sparse-checkout enabled, then copy
 	 * the sparse-checkout patterns from the current worktree.
 	 */
-	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		copy_sparse_checkout(sb_repo.buf);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index b18b5617fc..8fd4dd8c81 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckout")) {
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index a374972b62..2df307bb48 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ enum pattern_match_result path_matches_pattern_list(
 
 int init_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		return 1;
 	if (istate->sparse_checkout_patterns)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index c61d773e7e..a379a9149e 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 3d98461a06..6a30512f3c 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 4129f8fb2b..406c70601c 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      &r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal,
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.core_apply_sparse_checkout, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
@@ -227,3 +228,13 @@ void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo)
 {
 	repo->settings.shared_repository_initialized = 0;
 }
+
+int repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo)
+{
+	return repo->settings.core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+}
+
+void repo_settings_set_apply_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo, int value)
+{
+	repo->settings.core_apply_sparse_checkout = value;
+}
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 2bf24b2597..e4e797e85c 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
@@ -98,4 +99,8 @@ int repo_settings_get_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 void repo_settings_set_shared_repository(struct repository *repo, int value);
 void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 
+/* Read, set or reset the value for "core.sparsecheckout". */
+int repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo);
+void repo_settings_set_apply_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo, int value);
+
 #endif /* REPO_SETTINGS_H */
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 5634abafaa..1565708190 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(istate->repo) || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout ||
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(istate->repo) ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 471837f032..b3bf992067 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	if (o->prefix)
 		update_sparsity_for_prefix(o->prefix, o->src_index);
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !o->update)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(repo) || !o->update)
 		o->skip_sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (!o->skip_sparse_checkout) {
 		memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 454601afa1..afe98a1bb9 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,7 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 	int skip_worktree = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
+	if (!repo_settings_get_apply_sparse_checkout(r) || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
 		/*
 		 * Don't compute percentage of checked out files if we
 		 * aren't in a sparse checkout or would get division by 0.

builtin/backfill.c, builtin/clone.c, builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, builtin/worktree.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c, wt-status.c

diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index fa82ad2f6f..e16d116e98 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-/* We need this macro to access core_apply_sparse_checkout */
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "config.h"
@@ -139,7 +136,7 @@ int cmd_backfill(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, struct reposit
 	repo_config(repo, git_default_config, NULL);
 
 	if (ctx.sparse < 0)
-		ctx.sparse = core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+		ctx.sparse = repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(repo);
 
 	result = do_backfill(&ctx);
 	backfill_context_clear(&ctx);
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 91b9cd0d16..ba25e58258 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ static int git_sparse_checkout_init(const char *repo)
 	 * We must apply the setting in the current process
 	 * for the later checkout to use the sparse-checkout file.
 	 */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (run_command(&cmd)) {
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 3ce574a605..63342f5e36 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	"forget" the sparse-index feature switch. As a result, the index
 	 *	of these submodules are expanded unexpectedly.
 	 *
-	 * 2. "core_apply_sparse_checkout"
+	 * 2. "sparse_checkout"
 	 *	When running `grep` in the superproject, this setting is
 	 *	populated using the superproject's configs. However, once
 	 *	initialized, this config is globally accessible and is read by
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 07548fe96a..95d24843d9 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 		rename_index_entry_at(the_repository->index, pos, dst);
 
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
-		    core_apply_sparse_checkout &&
+		    repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository) &&
 		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 1bf01591b2..662858b0a8 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int res;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("this worktree is not sparse"));
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
@@ -397,11 +397,11 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
-	if (*cone_mode == -1 && core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (*cone_mode == -1 && repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ static int update_modes(int *cone_mode, int *sparse_index)
 	int mode, record_mode;
 
 	/* Determine if we need to record the mode; ensure sparse checkout on */
-	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository);
 
 	mode = update_cone_mode(cone_mode);
 	if (record_mode && set_config(mode))
@@ -695,9 +695,9 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 		break;
 	}
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout) {
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository)) {
 		set_config(MODE_ALL_PATTERNS);
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+		repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 		changed_config = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int ret;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("no sparse-checkout to add to"));
 
 	repo_read_index(the_repository);
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_reapply(int argc, const char **argv,
 	};
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("must be in a sparse-checkout to reapply sparsity patterns"));
 
 	reapply_opts.cone_mode = -1;
@@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	struct pattern_list pl;
 
 	/*
-	 * We do not exit early if !core_apply_sparse_checkout; due to the
+	 * We do not exit early if !sparse_checkout; due to the
 	 * ability for users to manually muck things up between
 	 *   direct editing of .git/info/sparse-checkout
 	 *   running read-tree -m u HEAD or update-index --skip-worktree
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	hashmap_init(&pl.recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	hashmap_init(&pl.parent_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	pl.use_cone_patterns = 0;
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 
 	add_pattern("/*", empty_base, 0, &pl, 0);
 
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 88a36ea9f8..590bec334f 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * If the current worktree has sparse-checkout enabled, then copy
 	 * the sparse-checkout patterns from the current worktree.
 	 */
-	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		copy_sparse_checkout(sb_repo.buf);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index b18b5617fc..8fd4dd8c81 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckout")) {
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index a374972b62..323017e7a5 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ enum pattern_match_result path_matches_pattern_list(
 
 int init_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		return 1;
 	if (istate->sparse_checkout_patterns)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index c61d773e7e..a379a9149e 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 3d98461a06..6a30512f3c 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 4129f8fb2b..e11201e25b 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      &r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal,
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
@@ -227,3 +228,15 @@ void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo)
 {
 	repo->settings.shared_repository_initialized = 0;
 }
+
+int repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo)
+{
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
+	return repo->settings.sparse_checkout;
+}
+
+void repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo, int value)
+{
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
+	repo->settings.sparse_checkout = value;
+}
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 2bf24b2597..0d181e3f21 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	int sparse_checkout;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
@@ -98,4 +99,8 @@ int repo_settings_get_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 void repo_settings_set_shared_repository(struct repository *repo, int value);
 void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 
+/* Read or set the value for "core.sparseCheckout". */
+int repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo);
+void repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo, int value);
+
 #endif /* REPO_SETTINGS_H */
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 5634abafaa..1bedb35001 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(istate->repo) || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout ||
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(istate->repo) ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 471837f032..c8eba27e5f 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	if (o->prefix)
 		update_sparsity_for_prefix(o->prefix, o->src_index);
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !o->update)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(repo) || !o->update)
 		o->skip_sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (!o->skip_sparse_checkout) {
 		memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 454601afa1..004f2945b7 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,7 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 	int skip_worktree = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(r) || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
 		/*
 		 * Don't compute percentage of checked out files if we
 		 * aren't in a sparse checkout or would get division by 0.

builtin/backfill.c, builtin/clone.c, builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, builtin/worktree.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c, wt-status.c

diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index fa82ad2f6f..e16d116e98 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-/* We need this macro to access core_apply_sparse_checkout */
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "config.h"
@@ -139,7 +136,7 @@ int cmd_backfill(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, struct reposit
 	repo_config(repo, git_default_config, NULL);
 
 	if (ctx.sparse < 0)
-		ctx.sparse = core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+		ctx.sparse = repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(repo);
 
 	result = do_backfill(&ctx);
 	backfill_context_clear(&ctx);
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 91b9cd0d16..ba25e58258 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ static int git_sparse_checkout_init(const char *repo)
 	 * We must apply the setting in the current process
 	 * for the later checkout to use the sparse-checkout file.
 	 */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (run_command(&cmd)) {
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 3ce574a605..63342f5e36 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	"forget" the sparse-index feature switch. As a result, the index
 	 *	of these submodules are expanded unexpectedly.
 	 *
-	 * 2. "core_apply_sparse_checkout"
+	 * 2. "sparse_checkout"
 	 *	When running `grep` in the superproject, this setting is
 	 *	populated using the superproject's configs. However, once
 	 *	initialized, this config is globally accessible and is read by
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 07548fe96a..95d24843d9 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 		rename_index_entry_at(the_repository->index, pos, dst);
 
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
-		    core_apply_sparse_checkout &&
+		    repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository) &&
 		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 1bf01591b2..662858b0a8 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int res;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("this worktree is not sparse"));
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
@@ -397,11 +397,11 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
-	if (*cone_mode == -1 && core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (*cone_mode == -1 && repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ static int update_modes(int *cone_mode, int *sparse_index)
 	int mode, record_mode;
 
 	/* Determine if we need to record the mode; ensure sparse checkout on */
-	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository);
 
 	mode = update_cone_mode(cone_mode);
 	if (record_mode && set_config(mode))
@@ -695,9 +695,9 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 		break;
 	}
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout) {
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository)) {
 		set_config(MODE_ALL_PATTERNS);
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+		repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 		changed_config = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int ret;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("no sparse-checkout to add to"));
 
 	repo_read_index(the_repository);
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_reapply(int argc, const char **argv,
 	};
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		die(_("must be in a sparse-checkout to reapply sparsity patterns"));
 
 	reapply_opts.cone_mode = -1;
@@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	struct pattern_list pl;
 
 	/*
-	 * We do not exit early if !core_apply_sparse_checkout; due to the
+	 * We do not exit early if !sparse_checkout; due to the
 	 * ability for users to manually muck things up between
 	 *   direct editing of .git/info/sparse-checkout
 	 *   running read-tree -m u HEAD or update-index --skip-worktree
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	hashmap_init(&pl.recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	hashmap_init(&pl.parent_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	pl.use_cone_patterns = 0;
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(the_repository, 1);
 
 	add_pattern("/*", empty_base, 0, &pl, 0);
 
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 88a36ea9f8..590bec334f 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * If the current worktree has sparse-checkout enabled, then copy
 	 * the sparse-checkout patterns from the current worktree.
 	 */
-	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		copy_sparse_checkout(sb_repo.buf);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index b18b5617fc..8fd4dd8c81 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckout")) {
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index a374972b62..323017e7a5 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ enum pattern_match_result path_matches_pattern_list(
 
 int init_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(the_repository))
 		return 1;
 	if (istate->sparse_checkout_patterns)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index c61d773e7e..a379a9149e 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 3d98461a06..6a30512f3c 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 4129f8fb2b..e11201e25b 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      &r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal,
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
@@ -227,3 +228,15 @@ void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo)
 {
 	repo->settings.shared_repository_initialized = 0;
 }
+
+int repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo)
+{
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
+	return repo->settings.sparse_checkout;
+}
+
+void repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo, int value)
+{
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
+	repo->settings.sparse_checkout = value;
+}
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 2bf24b2597..0d181e3f21 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	int sparse_checkout;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
@@ -98,4 +99,8 @@ int repo_settings_get_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 void repo_settings_set_shared_repository(struct repository *repo, int value);
 void repo_settings_reset_shared_repository(struct repository *repo);
 
+/* Read or set the value for "core.sparseCheckout". */
+int repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo);
+void repo_settings_set_sparse_checkout(struct repository *repo, int value);
+
 #endif /* REPO_SETTINGS_H */
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 5634abafaa..1bedb35001 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(istate->repo) || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout ||
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(istate->repo) ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 471837f032..c8eba27e5f 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	if (o->prefix)
 		update_sparsity_for_prefix(o->prefix, o->src_index);
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !o->update)
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(repo) || !o->update)
 		o->skip_sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (!o->skip_sparse_checkout) {
 		memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 454601afa1..004f2945b7 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,7 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 	int skip_worktree = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
+	if (!repo_settings_get_sparse_checkout(r) || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
 		/*
 		 * Don't compute percentage of checked out files if we
 		 * aren't in a sparse checkout or would get division by 0.

builtin/backfill.c, builtin/clone.c, builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, builtin/worktree.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c, wt-status.c

diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index fa82ad2f6f..bf9e56bff3 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-/* We need this macro to access core_apply_sparse_checkout */
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "config.h"
@@ -137,9 +134,9 @@ int cmd_backfill(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, struct reposit
 			     0);
 
 	repo_config(repo, git_default_config, NULL);
-
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
 	if (ctx.sparse < 0)
-		ctx.sparse = core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+		ctx.sparse = repo->settings.sparse_checkout;
 
 	result = do_backfill(&ctx);
 	backfill_context_clear(&ctx);
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 91b9cd0d16..1bc9c1bada 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ static int git_sparse_checkout_init(const char *repo)
 	 * We must apply the setting in the current process
 	 * for the later checkout to use the sparse-checkout file.
 	 */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (run_command(&cmd)) {
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 3ce574a605..63342f5e36 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	"forget" the sparse-index feature switch. As a result, the index
 	 *	of these submodules are expanded unexpectedly.
 	 *
-	 * 2. "core_apply_sparse_checkout"
+	 * 2. "sparse_checkout"
 	 *	When running `grep` in the superproject, this setting is
 	 *	populated using the superproject's configs. However, once
 	 *	initialized, this config is globally accessible and is read by
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 07548fe96a..1e9f4d3eba 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 		rename_index_entry_at(the_repository->index, pos, dst);
 
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
-		    core_apply_sparse_checkout &&
+		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout &&
 		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 1bf01591b2..869d574a03 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int res;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("this worktree is not sparse"));
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
@@ -397,11 +397,11 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
-	if (*cone_mode == -1 && core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (*cone_mode == -1 && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ static int update_modes(int *cone_mode, int *sparse_index)
 	int mode, record_mode;
 
 	/* Determine if we need to record the mode; ensure sparse checkout on */
-	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout;
 
 	mode = update_cone_mode(cone_mode);
 	if (record_mode && set_config(mode))
@@ -695,9 +695,9 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 		break;
 	}
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout) {
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout) {
 		set_config(MODE_ALL_PATTERNS);
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+		the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 		changed_config = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int ret;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("no sparse-checkout to add to"));
 
 	repo_read_index(the_repository);
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_reapply(int argc, const char **argv,
 	};
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("must be in a sparse-checkout to reapply sparsity patterns"));
 
 	reapply_opts.cone_mode = -1;
@@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	struct pattern_list pl;
 
 	/*
-	 * We do not exit early if !core_apply_sparse_checkout; due to the
+	 * We do not exit early if !sparse_checkout; due to the
 	 * ability for users to manually muck things up between
 	 *   direct editing of .git/info/sparse-checkout
 	 *   running read-tree -m u HEAD or update-index --skip-worktree
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	hashmap_init(&pl.recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	hashmap_init(&pl.parent_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	pl.use_cone_patterns = 0;
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 
 	add_pattern("/*", empty_base, 0, &pl, 0);
 
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 88a36ea9f8..92e1c92afc 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * If the current worktree has sparse-checkout enabled, then copy
 	 * the sparse-checkout patterns from the current worktree.
 	 */
-	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		copy_sparse_checkout(sb_repo.buf);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index b18b5617fc..8fd4dd8c81 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckout")) {
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index a374972b62..8f0f7ca8a4 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ enum pattern_match_result path_matches_pattern_list(
 
 int init_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		return 1;
 	if (istate->sparse_checkout_patterns)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index c61d773e7e..a379a9149e 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 3d98461a06..6a30512f3c 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 4129f8fb2b..9270cca561 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      &r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal,
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 2bf24b2597..9caa7c57a3 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	int sparse_checkout;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 5634abafaa..2428b20634 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout ||
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 471837f032..02e32c4ba1 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	if (o->prefix)
 		update_sparsity_for_prefix(o->prefix, o->src_index);
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !o->update)
+	if (!repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !o->update)
 		o->skip_sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (!o->skip_sparse_checkout) {
 		memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 454601afa1..ec2be98194 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,7 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 	int skip_worktree = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
+	if (!r->settings.sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
 		/*
 		 * Don't compute percentage of checked out files if we
 		 * aren't in a sparse checkout or would get division by 0.

builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c

diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 63342f5e36..94d6245b85 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	dictate the behavior for the submodule, making it "forget" its
 	 *	sparse-checkout state.
 	 *
-	 * 3. "core_sparse_checkout_cone"
+	 * 3. "sparse_checkout_cone"
 	 *	ditto.
 	 *
 	 * Note that this list is not exhaustive.
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 1e9f4d3eba..833fa761dd 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
 		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout &&
-		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
 			 * "out-to-out" move (<source> is out-of-cone and
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 869d574a03..e65a62f250 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 
 	memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
 
-	pl.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
 	res = add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0, &pl, NULL, 0);
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ static int write_patterns_and_update(struct pattern_list *pl)
 	if (!fp)
 		die_errno(_("unable to fdopen %s"), get_lock_file_path(&lk));
 
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		write_cone_to_file(fp, pl);
 	else
 		write_patterns_to_file(fp, pl);
@@ -398,15 +398,15 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
 	if (*cone_mode == -1 && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
-		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+		*cone_mode = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
 	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
-		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
+		the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
 	}
-	core_sparse_checkout_cone = 0;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone = 0;
 	return MODE_ALL_PATTERNS;
 }
 
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ static void add_patterns_from_input(struct pattern_list *pl,
 				    FILE *file)
 {
 	int i;
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		struct strbuf line = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 		hashmap_init(&pl->recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ static void add_patterns_cone_mode(int argc, const char **argv,
 				use_stdin ? stdin : NULL);
 
 	memset(&existing, 0, sizeof(existing));
-	existing.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	existing.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	if (add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0,
 					   &existing, NULL, 0))
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 
 	switch (m) {
 	case ADD:
-		if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 			add_patterns_cone_mode(args->nr, args->v, pl, use_stdin);
 		else
 			add_patterns_literal(args->nr, args->v, pl, use_stdin);
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 	if (!args->nr)
 		return;
 
-	if (prefix && *prefix && core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (prefix && *prefix && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		/*
 		 * The args are not pathspecs, so unfortunately we
 		 * cannot imitate how cmd_add() uses parse_pathspec().
@@ -736,10 +736,10 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 	if (skip_checks)
 		return;
 
-	if (prefix && *prefix && !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (prefix && *prefix && !the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		die(_("please run from the toplevel directory in non-cone mode"));
 
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		for (i = 0; i < args->nr; i++) {
 			if (args->v[i][0] == '/')
 				die(_("specify directories rather than patterns (no leading slash)"));
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 		if (S_ISSPARSEDIR(ce->ce_mode))
 			continue;
 
-		if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 			die(_("'%s' is not a directory; to treat it as a directory anyway, rerun with --skip-checks"), args->v[i]);
 		else
 			warning(_("pass a leading slash before paths such as '%s' if you want a single file (see NON-CONE PROBLEMS in the git-sparse-checkout manual)."), args->v[i]);
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_set(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	 * non-cone mode, if nothing is specified, manually select just the
 	 * top-level directory (much as 'init' would do).
 	 */
-	if (!core_sparse_checkout_cone && !set_opts.use_stdin && argc == 0) {
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone && !set_opts.use_stdin && argc == 0) {
 		for (int i = 0; i < default_patterns_nr; i++)
 			strvec_push(&patterns, default_patterns[i]);
 	} else {
@@ -1042,7 +1042,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_check_rules(int argc, const char **argv, const char *
 		check_rules_opts.cone_mode = 1;
 
 	update_cone_mode(&check_rules_opts.cone_mode);
-	pl.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 	if (check_rules_opts.rules_file) {
 		fp = xfopen(check_rules_opts.rules_file, "r");
 		add_patterns_from_input(&pl, argc, argv, fp);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8fd4dd8c81..707fe0707a 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
-		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.precomposeunicode")) {
 		precomposed_unicode = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 8f0f7ca8a4..8378996b72 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -3459,7 +3459,7 @@ int get_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct pattern_list *pl)
 	int res;
 	char *sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
 
-	pl->use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl->use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 	res = add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0, pl, NULL, 0);
 
 	free(sparse_filename);
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index a379a9149e..7d46b80711 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
 int precomposed_unicode = -1; /* see probe_utf8_pathname_composition() */
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 6a30512f3c..00a5b332a0 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
 enum rebase_setup_type {
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 9270cca561..eebc1f941d 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckoutcone", &r->settings.sparse_checkout_cone, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 9caa7c57a3..443e1399da 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+
 	int sparse_checkout;
+	int sparse_checkout_cone;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 2428b20634..444da8a753 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {

config.c, environment.c, environment.h, sparse-index.c

diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 707fe0707a..d212329799 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1636,17 +1636,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 	return platform_core_config(var, value, ctx, cb);
 }
 
-static int git_default_sparse_config(const char *var, const char *value)
-{
-	if (!strcmp(var, "sparse.expectfilesoutsideofpatterns")) {
-		sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config/sparse.adoc. */
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static int git_default_i18n_config(const char *var, const char *value)
 {
 	if (!strcmp(var, "i18n.commitencoding")) {
@@ -1808,9 +1797,6 @@ int git_default_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (starts_with(var, "sparse."))
-		return git_default_sparse_config(var, value);
-
 	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config.adoc. */
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 7d46b80711..d51e0a14aa 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-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;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 00a5b332a0..5121a28d3f 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,8 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
-
 enum rebase_setup_type {
 	AUTOREBASE_NEVER = 0,
 	AUTOREBASE_LOCAL,
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 444da8a753..5d87fc65c0 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
 #define DISABLE_SIGN_COMPARE_WARNINGS
 
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
@@ -668,6 +667,9 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
+	int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns = 0;
+	repo_config_get_bool(istate->repo, "sparse.expectfilesoutsideofpatterns", 
+		&sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns);
 	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;

builtin/backfill.c, builtin/clone.c, builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, builtin/worktree.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c, wt-status.c

diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index fa82ad2f6f..bf9e56bff3 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-/* We need this macro to access core_apply_sparse_checkout */
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "config.h"
@@ -137,9 +134,9 @@ int cmd_backfill(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, struct reposit
 			     0);
 
 	repo_config(repo, git_default_config, NULL);
-
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
 	if (ctx.sparse < 0)
-		ctx.sparse = core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+		ctx.sparse = repo->settings.sparse_checkout;
 
 	result = do_backfill(&ctx);
 	backfill_context_clear(&ctx);
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 91b9cd0d16..6d70986f3e 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -617,11 +617,12 @@ static int git_sparse_checkout_init(const char *repo)
 	int result = 0;
 	strvec_pushl(&cmd.args, "-C", repo, "sparse-checkout", "set", NULL);
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 	/*
 	 * We must apply the setting in the current process
 	 * for the later checkout to use the sparse-checkout file.
 	 */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (run_command(&cmd)) {
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 3ce574a605..6111fee60b 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	"forget" the sparse-index feature switch. As a result, the index
 	 *	of these submodules are expanded unexpectedly.
 	 *
-	 * 2. "core_apply_sparse_checkout"
+	 * 2. "settings.sparse_checkout"
 	 *	When running `grep` in the superproject, this setting is
 	 *	populated using the superproject's configs. However, once
 	 *	initialized, this config is globally accessible and is read by
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 07548fe96a..43ed2e3d0a 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -570,9 +570,9 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 						       &st,
 						       0);
 		rename_index_entry_at(the_repository->index, pos, dst);
-
+		prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
-		    core_apply_sparse_checkout &&
+		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout &&
 		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 1bf01591b2..8329d29a27 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int res;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("this worktree is not sparse"));
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
@@ -397,11 +397,11 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
-	if (*cone_mode == -1 && core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (*cone_mode == -1 && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ static int update_modes(int *cone_mode, int *sparse_index)
 	int mode, record_mode;
 
 	/* Determine if we need to record the mode; ensure sparse checkout on */
-	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout;
 
 	mode = update_cone_mode(cone_mode);
 	if (record_mode && set_config(mode))
@@ -695,9 +695,9 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 		break;
 	}
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout) {
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout) {
 		set_config(MODE_ALL_PATTERNS);
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+		the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 		changed_config = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int ret;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("no sparse-checkout to add to"));
 
 	repo_read_index(the_repository);
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_reapply(int argc, const char **argv,
 	};
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("must be in a sparse-checkout to reapply sparsity patterns"));
 
 	reapply_opts.cone_mode = -1;
@@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	struct pattern_list pl;
 
 	/*
-	 * We do not exit early if !core_apply_sparse_checkout; due to the
+	 * We do not exit early if !sparse_checkout; due to the
 	 * ability for users to manually muck things up between
 	 *   direct editing of .git/info/sparse-checkout
 	 *   running read-tree -m u HEAD or update-index --skip-worktree
@@ -961,11 +961,10 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	hashmap_init(&pl.recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	hashmap_init(&pl.parent_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	pl.use_cone_patterns = 0;
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 
 	add_pattern("/*", empty_base, 0, &pl, 0);
 
-	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 	the_repository->settings.sparse_index = 0;
 
 	if (update_working_directory(&pl))
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 88a36ea9f8..92e1c92afc 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * If the current worktree has sparse-checkout enabled, then copy
 	 * the sparse-checkout patterns from the current worktree.
 	 */
-	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		copy_sparse_checkout(sb_repo.buf);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index b18b5617fc..8fd4dd8c81 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckout")) {
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index a374972b62..5d1cb7a067 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1503,7 +1503,8 @@ enum pattern_match_result path_matches_pattern_list(
 
 int init_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		return 1;
 	if (istate->sparse_checkout_patterns)
 		return 0;
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index c61d773e7e..a379a9149e 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 3d98461a06..6a30512f3c 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 4129f8fb2b..9270cca561 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      &r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal,
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 2bf24b2597..9caa7c57a3 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	int sparse_checkout;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 5634abafaa..8132c0f2fb 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,8 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
@@ -172,7 +173,6 @@ int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 		/*
 		 * Only convert to sparse if index.sparse is set.
 		 */
-		prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
 		if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_index)
 			return 0;
 	}
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout ||
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 471837f032..02e32c4ba1 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	if (o->prefix)
 		update_sparsity_for_prefix(o->prefix, o->src_index);
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !o->update)
+	if (!repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !o->update)
 		o->skip_sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (!o->skip_sparse_checkout) {
 		memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 454601afa1..8651134bcb 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,8 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 	int skip_worktree = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
+	prepare_repo_settings(r);
+	if (!r->settings.sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
 		/*
 		 * Don't compute percentage of checked out files if we
 		 * aren't in a sparse checkout or would get division by 0.

builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c

diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 6111fee60b..8971a15ef4 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	dictate the behavior for the submodule, making it "forget" its
 	 *	sparse-checkout state.
 	 *
-	 * 3. "core_sparse_checkout_cone"
+	 * 3. "settings.sparse_checkout_cone"
 	 *	ditto.
 	 *
 	 * Note that this list is not exhaustive.
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 43ed2e3d0a..2d1326a18f 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 		prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
 		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout &&
-		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
 			 * "out-to-out" move (<source> is out-of-cone and
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 8329d29a27..8a0ffba9d4 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 
 	memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
 
-	pl.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
 	res = add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0, &pl, NULL, 0);
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ static int write_patterns_and_update(struct pattern_list *pl)
 	if (!fp)
 		die_errno(_("unable to fdopen %s"), get_lock_file_path(&lk));
 
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		write_cone_to_file(fp, pl);
 	else
 		write_patterns_to_file(fp, pl);
@@ -398,15 +398,15 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
 	if (*cone_mode == -1 && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
-		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+		*cone_mode = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
 	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
-		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
+		the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
 	}
-	core_sparse_checkout_cone = 0;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone = 0;
 	return MODE_ALL_PATTERNS;
 }
 
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ static void add_patterns_from_input(struct pattern_list *pl,
 				    FILE *file)
 {
 	int i;
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		struct strbuf line = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 		hashmap_init(&pl->recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ static void add_patterns_cone_mode(int argc, const char **argv,
 				use_stdin ? stdin : NULL);
 
 	memset(&existing, 0, sizeof(existing));
-	existing.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	existing.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	if (add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0,
 					   &existing, NULL, 0))
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 
 	switch (m) {
 	case ADD:
-		if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 			add_patterns_cone_mode(args->nr, args->v, pl, use_stdin);
 		else
 			add_patterns_literal(args->nr, args->v, pl, use_stdin);
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 	if (!args->nr)
 		return;
 
-	if (prefix && *prefix && core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (prefix && *prefix && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		/*
 		 * The args are not pathspecs, so unfortunately we
 		 * cannot imitate how cmd_add() uses parse_pathspec().
@@ -736,10 +736,10 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 	if (skip_checks)
 		return;
 
-	if (prefix && *prefix && !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (prefix && *prefix && !the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		die(_("please run from the toplevel directory in non-cone mode"));
 
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		for (i = 0; i < args->nr; i++) {
 			if (args->v[i][0] == '/')
 				die(_("specify directories rather than patterns (no leading slash)"));
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 		if (S_ISSPARSEDIR(ce->ce_mode))
 			continue;
 
-		if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 			die(_("'%s' is not a directory; to treat it as a directory anyway, rerun with --skip-checks"), args->v[i]);
 		else
 			warning(_("pass a leading slash before paths such as '%s' if you want a single file (see NON-CONE PROBLEMS in the git-sparse-checkout manual)."), args->v[i]);
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_set(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	 * non-cone mode, if nothing is specified, manually select just the
 	 * top-level directory (much as 'init' would do).
 	 */
-	if (!core_sparse_checkout_cone && !set_opts.use_stdin && argc == 0) {
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone && !set_opts.use_stdin && argc == 0) {
 		for (int i = 0; i < default_patterns_nr; i++)
 			strvec_push(&patterns, default_patterns[i]);
 	} else {
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_check_rules(int argc, const char **argv, const char *
 		check_rules_opts.cone_mode = 1;
 
 	update_cone_mode(&check_rules_opts.cone_mode);
-	pl.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 	if (check_rules_opts.rules_file) {
 		fp = xfopen(check_rules_opts.rules_file, "r");
 		add_patterns_from_input(&pl, argc, argv, fp);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8fd4dd8c81..707fe0707a 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1612,11 +1612,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
-		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.precomposeunicode")) {
 		precomposed_unicode = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 5d1cb7a067..d2b0a5aef6 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -3460,7 +3460,7 @@ int get_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct pattern_list *pl)
 	int res;
 	char *sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
 
-	pl->use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl->use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 	res = add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0, pl, NULL, 0);
 
 	free(sparse_filename);
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index a379a9149e..7d46b80711 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
 int precomposed_unicode = -1; /* see probe_utf8_pathname_composition() */
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 6a30512f3c..00a5b332a0 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,7 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
 enum rebase_setup_type {
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 9270cca561..eebc1f941d 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckoutcone", &r->settings.sparse_checkout_cone, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 9caa7c57a3..443e1399da 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+
 	int sparse_checkout;
+	int sparse_checkout_cone;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 8132c0f2fb..6fd782a8fc 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
 	prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
-	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index 02e32c4ba1..0e9813bddf 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -2144,6 +2144,7 @@ enum update_sparsity_result update_sparsity(struct unpack_trees_options *o,
 		BUG("update_sparsity() called wrong");
 
 	trace_performance_enter();
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 
 	/* If we weren't given patterns, use the recorded ones */
 	if (!pl) {

config.c, environment.c, environment.h, sparse-index.c

diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 707fe0707a..d212329799 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1636,17 +1636,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 	return platform_core_config(var, value, ctx, cb);
 }
 
-static int git_default_sparse_config(const char *var, const char *value)
-{
-	if (!strcmp(var, "sparse.expectfilesoutsideofpatterns")) {
-		sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config/sparse.adoc. */
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static int git_default_i18n_config(const char *var, const char *value)
 {
 	if (!strcmp(var, "i18n.commitencoding")) {
@@ -1808,9 +1797,6 @@ int git_default_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (starts_with(var, "sparse."))
-		return git_default_sparse_config(var, value);
-
 	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config.adoc. */
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 7d46b80711..d51e0a14aa 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-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;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 00a5b332a0..5121a28d3f 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -160,8 +160,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
-
 enum rebase_setup_type {
 	AUTOREBASE_NEVER = 0,
 	AUTOREBASE_LOCAL,
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 6fd782a8fc..ff33b8516b 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
 #define DISABLE_SIGN_COMPARE_WARNINGS
 
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
@@ -668,6 +667,9 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
+	int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns = 0;
+	repo_config_get_bool(istate->repo, "sparse.expectfilesoutsideofpatterns",
+		&sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns);
 	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;

builtin/backfill.c, builtin/clone.c, builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, builtin/worktree.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c, unpack-trees.c, wt-status.c

diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index 80056abe47..48b2518743 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-/* We need this macro to access core_apply_sparse_checkout */
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
-
 #include "builtin.h"
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "config.h"
@@ -137,9 +134,9 @@ int cmd_backfill(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, struct reposit
 			     0);
 
 	repo_config(repo, git_default_config, NULL);
-
+	prepare_repo_settings(repo);
 	if (ctx.sparse < 0)
-		ctx.sparse = core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+		ctx.sparse = repo->settings.sparse_checkout;
 
 	result = do_backfill(&ctx);
 	backfill_context_clear(&ctx);
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index 6d08abed37..6b6d429fd8 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -619,11 +619,12 @@ static int git_sparse_checkout_init(const char *repo)
 	int result = 0;
 	strvec_pushl(&cmd.args, "-C", repo, "sparse-checkout", "set", NULL);
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 	/*
 	 * We must apply the setting in the current process
 	 * for the later checkout to use the sparse-checkout file.
 	 */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 
 	cmd.git_cmd = 1;
 	if (run_command(&cmd)) {
diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index 39273d9c0f..fbad1a72a2 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	"forget" the sparse-index feature switch. As a result, the index
 	 *	of these submodules are expanded unexpectedly.
 	 *
-	 * 2. "core_apply_sparse_checkout"
+	 * 2. "settings.sparse_checkout"
 	 *	When running `grep` in the superproject, this setting is
 	 *	populated using the superproject's configs. However, once
 	 *	initialized, this config is globally accessible and is read by
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 07548fe96a..43ed2e3d0a 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -570,9 +570,9 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 						       &st,
 						       0);
 		rename_index_entry_at(the_repository->index, pos, dst);
-
+		prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
-		    core_apply_sparse_checkout &&
+		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout &&
 		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 1bf01591b2..8329d29a27 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int res;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("this worktree is not sparse"));
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix,
@@ -397,11 +397,11 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
-	if (*cone_mode == -1 && core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (*cone_mode == -1 && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ static int update_modes(int *cone_mode, int *sparse_index)
 	int mode, record_mode;
 
 	/* Determine if we need to record the mode; ensure sparse checkout on */
-	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !core_apply_sparse_checkout;
+	record_mode = (*cone_mode != -1) || !the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout;
 
 	mode = update_cone_mode(cone_mode);
 	if (record_mode && set_config(mode))
@@ -695,9 +695,9 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 		break;
 	}
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout) {
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout) {
 		set_config(MODE_ALL_PATTERNS);
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+		the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 		changed_config = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int ret;
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("no sparse-checkout to add to"));
 
 	repo_read_index(the_repository);
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_reapply(int argc, const char **argv,
 	};
 
 	setup_work_tree();
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		die(_("must be in a sparse-checkout to reapply sparsity patterns"));
 
 	reapply_opts.cone_mode = -1;
@@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	struct pattern_list pl;
 
 	/*
-	 * We do not exit early if !core_apply_sparse_checkout; due to the
+	 * We do not exit early if !sparse_checkout; due to the
 	 * ability for users to manually muck things up between
 	 *   direct editing of .git/info/sparse-checkout
 	 *   running read-tree -m u HEAD or update-index --skip-worktree
@@ -961,11 +961,10 @@ static int sparse_checkout_disable(int argc, const char **argv,
 	hashmap_init(&pl.recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	hashmap_init(&pl.parent_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
 	pl.use_cone_patterns = 0;
-	core_apply_sparse_checkout = 1;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 
 	add_pattern("/*", empty_base, 0, &pl, 0);
 
-	prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 	the_repository->settings.sparse_index = 0;
 
 	if (update_working_directory(&pl))
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 2dceeeed8b..a3a1bb00e3 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * If the current worktree has sparse-checkout enabled, then copy
 	 * the sparse-checkout patterns from the current worktree.
 	 */
-	if (core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		copy_sparse_checkout(sb_repo.buf);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 095a17bd42..da76bf4fde 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1607,11 +1607,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckout")) {
-		core_apply_sparse_checkout = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
 		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 02873f59ea..01d7574c09 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -1516,7 +1516,7 @@ enum pattern_match_result path_matches_pattern_list(
 
 int init_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout)
 		return 1;
 	if (istate->sparse_checkout_patterns)
 		return 0;
@@ -1539,6 +1539,7 @@ static int path_in_sparse_checkout_1(const char *path,
 	enum pattern_match_result match = UNDECIDED;
 	const char *end, *slash;
 
+	prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
 	/*
 	 * We default to accepting a path if the path is empty, there are no
 	 * patterns, or the patterns are of the wrong type.
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 7c2480b22e..3a21629f86 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 3d806ced6e..1e1e83fff1 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_apply_sparse_checkout;
 extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 195c24e9c0..c3aa92c065 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      &r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal,
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index d477885561..95900784f1 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+	int sparse_checkout;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 5634abafaa..c9e5a5efe1 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {
@@ -172,7 +172,6 @@ int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 		/*
 		 * Only convert to sparse if index.sparse is set.
 		 */
-		prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
 		if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_index)
 			return 0;
 	}
@@ -196,6 +195,7 @@ int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 
 int convert_to_sparse(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
+	prepare_repo_settings(istate->repo);
 	/*
 	 * If the index is already sparse, empty, or otherwise
 	 * cannot be converted to sparse, do not convert.
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout ||
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout ||
 	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
diff --git a/unpack-trees.c b/unpack-trees.c
index f38c761ab9..2e6d3f98f7 100644
--- a/unpack-trees.c
+++ b/unpack-trees.c
@@ -1924,7 +1924,7 @@ int unpack_trees(unsigned len, struct tree_desc *t, struct unpack_trees_options
 	if (o->prefix)
 		update_sparsity_for_prefix(o->prefix, o->src_index);
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || !o->update)
+	if (!repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !o->update)
 		o->skip_sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (!o->skip_sparse_checkout) {
 		memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
diff --git a/wt-status.c b/wt-status.c
index 454601afa1..8651134bcb 100644
--- a/wt-status.c
+++ b/wt-status.c
@@ -1773,7 +1773,8 @@ static void wt_status_check_sparse_checkout(struct repository *r,
 	int skip_worktree = 0;
 	int i;
 
-	if (!core_apply_sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
+	prepare_repo_settings(r);
+	if (!r->settings.sparse_checkout || r->index->cache_nr == 0) {
 		/*
 		 * Don't compute percentage of checked out files if we
 		 * aren't in a sparse checkout or would get division by 0.

builtin/grep.c, builtin/mv.c, builtin/sparse-checkout.c, config.c, dir.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c

diff --git a/builtin/grep.c b/builtin/grep.c
index fbad1a72a2..bd5481cc44 100644
--- a/builtin/grep.c
+++ b/builtin/grep.c
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ static int grep_submodule(struct grep_opt *opt,
 	 *	dictate the behavior for the submodule, making it "forget" its
 	 *	sparse-checkout state.
 	 *
-	 * 3. "core_sparse_checkout_cone"
+	 * 3. "settings.sparse_checkout_cone"
 	 *	ditto.
 	 *
 	 * Note that this list is not exhaustive.
diff --git a/builtin/mv.c b/builtin/mv.c
index 43ed2e3d0a..2d1326a18f 100644
--- a/builtin/mv.c
+++ b/builtin/mv.c
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ int cmd_mv(int argc,
 		prepare_repo_settings(the_repository);
 		if (ignore_sparse &&
 		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout &&
-		    core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+		    the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 			/*
 			 * NEEDSWORK: we are *not* paying attention to
 			 * "out-to-out" move (<source> is out-of-cone and
diff --git a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
index 8329d29a27..8a0ffba9d4 100644
--- a/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
+++ b/builtin/sparse-checkout.c
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 
 	memset(&pl, 0, sizeof(pl));
 
-	pl.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
 	res = add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0, &pl, NULL, 0);
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ static int write_patterns_and_update(struct pattern_list *pl)
 	if (!fp)
 		die_errno(_("unable to fdopen %s"), get_lock_file_path(&lk));
 
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		write_cone_to_file(fp, pl);
 	else
 		write_patterns_to_file(fp, pl);
@@ -398,15 +398,15 @@ static int set_config(enum sparse_checkout_mode mode)
 static enum sparse_checkout_mode update_cone_mode(int *cone_mode) {
 	/* If not specified, use previous definition of cone mode */
 	if (*cone_mode == -1 && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout)
-		*cone_mode = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+		*cone_mode = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	/* Set cone/non-cone mode appropriately */
 	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout = 1;
 	if (*cone_mode == 1 || *cone_mode == -1) {
-		core_sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
+		the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone = 1;
 		return MODE_CONE_PATTERNS;
 	}
-	core_sparse_checkout_cone = 0;
+	the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone = 0;
 	return MODE_ALL_PATTERNS;
 }
 
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ static void add_patterns_from_input(struct pattern_list *pl,
 				    FILE *file)
 {
 	int i;
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		struct strbuf line = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 		hashmap_init(&pl->recursive_hashmap, pl_hashmap_cmp, NULL, 0);
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ static void add_patterns_cone_mode(int argc, const char **argv,
 				use_stdin ? stdin : NULL);
 
 	memset(&existing, 0, sizeof(existing));
-	existing.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	existing.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 
 	if (add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0,
 					   &existing, NULL, 0))
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ static int modify_pattern_list(struct strvec *args, int use_stdin,
 
 	switch (m) {
 	case ADD:
-		if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 			add_patterns_cone_mode(args->nr, args->v, pl, use_stdin);
 		else
 			add_patterns_literal(args->nr, args->v, pl, use_stdin);
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 	if (!args->nr)
 		return;
 
-	if (prefix && *prefix && core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (prefix && *prefix && the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		/*
 		 * The args are not pathspecs, so unfortunately we
 		 * cannot imitate how cmd_add() uses parse_pathspec().
@@ -736,10 +736,10 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 	if (skip_checks)
 		return;
 
-	if (prefix && *prefix && !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (prefix && *prefix && !the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		die(_("please run from the toplevel directory in non-cone mode"));
 
-	if (core_sparse_checkout_cone) {
+	if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone) {
 		for (i = 0; i < args->nr; i++) {
 			if (args->v[i][0] == '/')
 				die(_("specify directories rather than patterns (no leading slash)"));
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ static void sanitize_paths(struct strvec *args,
 		if (S_ISSPARSEDIR(ce->ce_mode))
 			continue;
 
-		if (core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		if (the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 			die(_("'%s' is not a directory; to treat it as a directory anyway, rerun with --skip-checks"), args->v[i]);
 		else
 			warning(_("pass a leading slash before paths such as '%s' if you want a single file (see NON-CONE PROBLEMS in the git-sparse-checkout manual)."), args->v[i]);
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_set(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	 * non-cone mode, if nothing is specified, manually select just the
 	 * top-level directory (much as 'init' would do).
 	 */
-	if (!core_sparse_checkout_cone && !set_opts.use_stdin && argc == 0) {
+	if (!the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone && !set_opts.use_stdin && argc == 0) {
 		for (int i = 0; i < default_patterns_nr; i++)
 			strvec_push(&patterns, default_patterns[i]);
 	} else {
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ static int sparse_checkout_check_rules(int argc, const char **argv, const char *
 		check_rules_opts.cone_mode = 1;
 
 	update_cone_mode(&check_rules_opts.cone_mode);
-	pl.use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl.use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 	if (check_rules_opts.rules_file) {
 		fp = xfopen(check_rules_opts.rules_file, "r");
 		add_patterns_from_input(&pl, argc, argv, fp);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index da76bf4fde..e13f7d8fe8 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1607,11 +1607,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!strcmp(var, "core.sparsecheckoutcone")) {
-		core_sparse_checkout_cone = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
 	if (!strcmp(var, "core.precomposeunicode")) {
 		precomposed_unicode = git_config_bool(var, value);
 		return 0;
diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 01d7574c09..5bed22a479 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -3473,7 +3473,7 @@ int get_sparse_checkout_patterns(struct pattern_list *pl)
 	int res;
 	char *sparse_filename = get_sparse_checkout_filename();
 
-	pl->use_cone_patterns = core_sparse_checkout_cone;
+	pl->use_cone_patterns = the_repository->settings.sparse_checkout_cone;
 	res = add_patterns_from_file_to_list(sparse_filename, "", 0, pl, NULL, 0);
 
 	free(sparse_filename);
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index 3a21629f86..cd5ec5c736 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 int merge_log_config = -1;
 int precomposed_unicode = -1; /* see probe_utf8_pathname_composition() */
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 1e1e83fff1..5642156d3d 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int core_sparse_checkout_cone;
 extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 
 enum rebase_setup_type {
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index c3aa92c065..505e402276 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 		      r->settings.pack_use_bitmap_boundary_traversal);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckoutcone", &r->settings.sparse_checkout_cone, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 95900784f1..1b43c4029c 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ struct repo_settings {
 	unsigned long big_file_threshold;
 
 	char *hooks_path;
+
 	int sparse_checkout;
+	int sparse_checkout_cone;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index c9e5a5efe1..3b51ea46e3 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static int index_has_unmerged_entries(struct index_state *istate)
 
 int is_sparse_index_allowed(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 {
-	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout || !istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout_cone)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (!(flags & SPARSE_INDEX_MEMORY_ONLY)) {

config.c, environment.c, environment.h, repo-settings.c, repo-settings.h, sparse-index.c

diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index e13f7d8fe8..ea6de843f7 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1631,17 +1631,6 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 	return platform_core_config(var, value, ctx, cb);
 }
 
-static int git_default_sparse_config(const char *var, const char *value)
-{
-	if (!strcmp(var, "sparse.expectfilesoutsideofpatterns")) {
-		sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns = git_config_bool(var, value);
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config/sparse.adoc. */
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static int git_default_i18n_config(const char *var, const char *value)
 {
 	if (!strcmp(var, "i18n.commitencoding")) {
@@ -1803,9 +1792,6 @@ int git_default_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (starts_with(var, "sparse."))
-		return git_default_sparse_config(var, value);
-
 	/* Add other config variables here and to Documentation/config.adoc. */
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index cd5ec5c736..cf52fa9617 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ enum push_default_type push_default = PUSH_DEFAULT_UNSPECIFIED;
 #endif
 enum object_creation_mode object_creation_mode = OBJECT_CREATION_MODE;
 int grafts_keep_true_parents;
-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;
diff --git a/environment.h b/environment.h
index 5642156d3d..aaa3025df3 100644
--- a/environment.h
+++ b/environment.h
@@ -159,8 +159,6 @@ extern int precomposed_unicode;
 extern int protect_hfs;
 extern int protect_ntfs;
 
-extern int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
-
 enum rebase_setup_type {
 	AUTOREBASE_NEVER = 0,
 	AUTOREBASE_LOCAL,
diff --git a/repo-settings.c b/repo-settings.c
index 505e402276..5e0ba4ae23 100644
--- a/repo-settings.c
+++ b/repo-settings.c
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ void prepare_repo_settings(struct repository *r)
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.usereplacerefs", &r->settings.read_replace_refs, 1);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckout", &r->settings.sparse_checkout, 0);
 	repo_cfg_bool(r, "core.sparsecheckoutcone", &r->settings.sparse_checkout_cone, 0);
+	repo_cfg_bool(r, "sparse.expectfilesoutsideofpatterns", &r->settings.sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * The GIT_TEST_MULTI_PACK_INDEX variable is special in that
diff --git a/repo-settings.h b/repo-settings.h
index 1b43c4029c..695c0fd0ce 100644
--- a/repo-settings.h
+++ b/repo-settings.h
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ struct repo_settings {
 
 	int sparse_checkout;
 	int sparse_checkout_cone;
+	int sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns;
 };
 #define REPO_SETTINGS_INIT { \
 	.shared_repository = -1, \
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 3b51ea46e3..552d26adc1 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-#define USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
 #define DISABLE_SIGN_COMPARE_WARNINGS
 
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
@@ -669,7 +668,7 @@ static void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_full(struct index_state *ista
 void clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files(struct index_state *istate)
 {
 	if (!istate->repo->settings.sparse_checkout ||
-	    sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
+	    istate->repo->settings.sparse_expect_files_outside_of_patterns)
 		return;
 
 	if (clear_skip_worktree_from_present_files_sparse(istate)) {