diff --git a/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt b/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt
index d85c9b5143..4f85a089ef 100644
--- a/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt
+++ b/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt
@@ -319,14 +319,14 @@ function body:
 ...
 
 	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
-	if (git_config_get_string_const("user.name", &cfg_name) > 0)
+	if (git_config_get_string_tmp("user.name", &cfg_name) > 0)
 		printf(_("No name is found in config\n"));
 	else
 		printf(_("Your name: %s\n"), cfg_name);
 ----
 
 `git_config()` will grab the configuration from config files known to Git and
-apply standard precedence rules. `git_config_get_string_const()` will look up
+apply standard precedence rules. `git_config_get_string_tmp()` will look up
 a specific key ("user.name") and give you the value. There are a number of
 single-key lookup functions like this one; you can see them all (and more info
 about how to use `git_config()`) in `Documentation/technical/api-config.txt`.
diff --git a/apply.c b/apply.c
index 8bff604dbe..b212d665b2 100644
--- a/apply.c
+++ b/apply.c
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ struct gitdiff_data {
 
 static void git_apply_config(void)
 {
-	git_config_get_string_const("apply.whitespace", &apply_default_whitespace);
-	git_config_get_string_const("apply.ignorewhitespace", &apply_default_ignorewhitespace);
+	git_config_get_string("apply.whitespace", &apply_default_whitespace);
+	git_config_get_string("apply.ignorewhitespace", &apply_default_ignorewhitespace);
 	git_config(git_xmerge_config, NULL);
 }
 
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 654426460c..1dcf462595 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -921,8 +921,8 @@ extern int assume_unchanged;
 extern int prefer_symlink_refs;
 extern int warn_ambiguous_refs;
 extern int warn_on_object_refname_ambiguity;
-extern const char *apply_default_whitespace;
-extern const char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
+extern char *apply_default_whitespace;
+extern char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
 extern const char *git_attributes_file;
 extern const char *git_hooks_path;
 extern int zlib_compression_level;
diff --git a/checkout.c b/checkout.c
index c72e9f9773..6586e30ca5 100644
--- a/checkout.c
+++ b/checkout.c
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ const char *unique_tracking_name(const char *name, struct object_id *oid,
 {
 	struct tracking_name_data cb_data = TRACKING_NAME_DATA_INIT;
 	const char *default_remote = NULL;
-	if (!git_config_get_string_const("checkout.defaultremote", &default_remote))
+	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp("checkout.defaultremote", &default_remote))
 		cb_data.default_remote = default_remote;
 	cb_data.src_ref = xstrfmt("refs/heads/%s", name);
 	cb_data.dst_oid = oid;
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ const char *unique_tracking_name(const char *name, struct object_id *oid,
 	if (dwim_remotes_matched)
 		*dwim_remotes_matched = cb_data.num_matches;
 	free(cb_data.src_ref);
-	free((char *)default_remote);
 	if (cb_data.num_matches == 1) {
 		free(cb_data.default_dst_ref);
 		free(cb_data.default_dst_oid);
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index facd73d40a..d92321a279 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2006,20 +2006,15 @@ const struct string_list *git_configset_get_value_multi(struct config_set *cs, c
 	return e ? &e->value_list : NULL;
 }
 
-int git_configset_get_string_const(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest)
+int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest)
 {
 	const char *value;
 	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value))
-		return git_config_string(dest, key, value);
+		return git_config_string((const char **)dest, key, value);
 	else
 		return 1;
 }
 
-int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest)
-{
-	return git_configset_get_string_const(cs, key, (const char **)dest);
-}
-
 int git_configset_get_string_tmp(struct config_set *cs, const char *key,
 				 const char **dest)
 {
@@ -2161,22 +2156,15 @@ const struct string_list *repo_config_get_value_multi(struct repository *repo,
 	return git_configset_get_value_multi(repo->config, key);
 }
 
-int repo_config_get_string_const(struct repository *repo,
-				 const char *key, const char **dest)
-{
-	int ret;
-	git_config_check_init(repo);
-	ret = git_configset_get_string_const(repo->config, key, dest);
-	if (ret < 0)
-		git_die_config(key, NULL);
-	return ret;
-}
-
 int repo_config_get_string(struct repository *repo,
 			   const char *key, char **dest)
 {
+	int ret;
 	git_config_check_init(repo);
-	return repo_config_get_string_const(repo, key, (const char **)dest);
+	ret = git_configset_get_string(repo->config, key, dest);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		git_die_config(key, NULL);
+	return ret;
 }
 
 int repo_config_get_string_tmp(struct repository *repo,
@@ -2257,11 +2245,6 @@ const struct string_list *git_config_get_value_multi(const char *key)
 	return repo_config_get_value_multi(the_repository, key);
 }
 
-int git_config_get_string_const(const char *key, const char **dest)
-{
-	return repo_config_get_string_const(the_repository, key, dest);
-}
-
 int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest)
 {
 	return repo_config_get_string(the_repository, key, dest);
@@ -2304,7 +2287,7 @@ int git_config_get_pathname(const char *key, const char **dest)
 
 int git_config_get_expiry(const char *key, const char **output)
 {
-	int ret = git_config_get_string_const(key, output);
+	int ret = git_config_get_string(key, (char **)output);
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 	if (strcmp(*output, "now")) {
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index a75b22e0d1..91cdfbfb41 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -458,7 +458,6 @@ void git_configset_clear(struct config_set *cs);
  */
 int git_configset_get_value(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
 
-int git_configset_get_string_const(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
 int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest);
 int git_configset_get_string_tmp(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
 int git_configset_get_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest);
@@ -475,8 +474,6 @@ int repo_config_get_value(struct repository *repo,
 			  const char *key, const char **value);
 const struct string_list *repo_config_get_value_multi(struct repository *repo,
 						      const char *key);
-int repo_config_get_string_const(struct repository *repo,
-				 const char *key, const char **dest);
 int repo_config_get_string(struct repository *repo,
 			   const char *key, char **dest);
 int repo_config_get_string_tmp(struct repository *repo,
@@ -532,16 +529,10 @@ void git_config_clear(void);
  * error message and returns -1. When the configuration variable `key` is
  * not found, returns 1 without touching `dest`.
  */
-int git_config_get_string_const(const char *key, const char **dest);
-
-/**
- * Similar to `git_config_get_string_const`, except that retrieved value
- * copied into the `dest` parameter is a mutable string.
- */
 int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest);
 
 /**
- * Similar to `git_config_get_string_const`, but does not allocate any new
+ * Similar to `git_config_get_string`, but does not allocate any new
  * memory; on success `dest` will point to memory owned by the config
  * machinery, which could be invalidated if it is discarded and reloaded.
  */
diff --git a/environment.c b/environment.c
index aaca0e91ac..ecb0c46f0d 100644
--- a/environment.c
+++ b/environment.c
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ int repository_format_precious_objects;
 int repository_format_worktree_config;
 const char *git_commit_encoding;
 const char *git_log_output_encoding;
-const char *apply_default_whitespace;
-const char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
+char *apply_default_whitespace;
+char *apply_default_ignorewhitespace;
 const char *git_attributes_file;
 const char *git_hooks_path;
 int zlib_compression_level = Z_BEST_SPEED;