diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index fcd6190f12..8a2d1a5de7 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -631,20 +631,20 @@ static struct option builtin_config_options[] = {
 	OPT_STRING('f', "file", &given_config_source.file, N_("file"), N_("use given config file")),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "blob", &given_config_source.blob, N_("blob-id"), N_("read config from given blob object")),
 	OPT_GROUP(N_("Action")),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "get", &actions, N_("get value: name [value-pattern]"), ACTION_GET),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "get-all", &actions, N_("get all values: key [value-pattern]"), ACTION_GET_ALL),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "get-regexp", &actions, N_("get values for regexp: name-regex [value-pattern]"), ACTION_GET_REGEXP),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "get-urlmatch", &actions, N_("get value specific for the URL: section[.var] URL"), ACTION_GET_URLMATCH),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "replace-all", &actions, N_("replace all matching variables: name value [value-pattern]"), ACTION_REPLACE_ALL),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "add", &actions, N_("add a new variable: name value"), ACTION_ADD),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "unset", &actions, N_("remove a variable: name [value-pattern]"), ACTION_UNSET),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "unset-all", &actions, N_("remove all matches: name [value-pattern]"), ACTION_UNSET_ALL),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "rename-section", &actions, N_("rename section: old-name new-name"), ACTION_RENAME_SECTION),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "remove-section", &actions, N_("remove a section: name"), ACTION_REMOVE_SECTION),
-	OPT_BIT('l', "list", &actions, N_("list all"), ACTION_LIST),
-	OPT_BIT('e', "edit", &actions, N_("open an editor"), ACTION_EDIT),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "get-color", &actions, N_("find the color configured: slot [default]"), ACTION_GET_COLOR),
-	OPT_BIT(0, "get-colorbool", &actions, N_("find the color setting: slot [stdout-is-tty]"), ACTION_GET_COLORBOOL),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "get", &actions, N_("get value: name [value-pattern]"), ACTION_GET),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "get-all", &actions, N_("get all values: key [value-pattern]"), ACTION_GET_ALL),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "get-regexp", &actions, N_("get values for regexp: name-regex [value-pattern]"), ACTION_GET_REGEXP),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "get-urlmatch", &actions, N_("get value specific for the URL: section[.var] URL"), ACTION_GET_URLMATCH),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "replace-all", &actions, N_("replace all matching variables: name value [value-pattern]"), ACTION_REPLACE_ALL),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "add", &actions, N_("add a new variable: name value"), ACTION_ADD),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "unset", &actions, N_("remove a variable: name [value-pattern]"), ACTION_UNSET),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "unset-all", &actions, N_("remove all matches: name [value-pattern]"), ACTION_UNSET_ALL),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "rename-section", &actions, N_("rename section: old-name new-name"), ACTION_RENAME_SECTION),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "remove-section", &actions, N_("remove a section: name"), ACTION_REMOVE_SECTION),
+	OPT_CMDMODE('l', "list", &actions, N_("list all"), ACTION_LIST),
+	OPT_CMDMODE('e', "edit", &actions, N_("open an editor"), ACTION_EDIT),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "get-color", &actions, N_("find the color configured: slot [default]"), ACTION_GET_COLOR),
+	OPT_CMDMODE(0, "get-colorbool", &actions, N_("find the color setting: slot [stdout-is-tty]"), ACTION_GET_COLORBOOL),
 	OPT_GROUP(N_("Type")),
 	OPT_CALLBACK('t', "type", &type, N_("type"), N_("value is given this type"), option_parse_type),
 	OPT_CALLBACK_VALUE(0, "bool", &type, N_("value is \"true\" or \"false\""), TYPE_BOOL),
@@ -767,10 +767,6 @@ int cmd_config(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		usage_builtin_config();
 	}
 
-	if (HAS_MULTI_BITS(actions)) {
-		error(_("only one action at a time"));
-		usage_builtin_config();
-	}
 	if (actions == 0)
 		switch (argc) {
 		case 1: actions = ACTION_GET; break;
diff --git a/t/t1300-config.sh b/t/t1300-config.sh
index 31c3878687..2d1bc1e27e 100755
--- a/t/t1300-config.sh
+++ b/t/t1300-config.sh
@@ -2612,4 +2612,17 @@ test_expect_success 'includeIf.hasconfig:remote.*.url forbids remote url in such
 	grep "fatal: remote URLs cannot be configured in file directly or indirectly included by includeIf.hasconfig:remote.*.url" err
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'negated mode causes failure' '
+	test_must_fail git config --no-get 2>err &&
+	grep "unknown option \`no-get${SQ}" err
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'specifying multiple modes causes failure' '
+	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+	error: options ${SQ}--get-all${SQ} and ${SQ}--get${SQ} cannot be used together
+	EOF
+	test_must_fail git config --get --get-all 2>err &&
+	test_cmp expect err
+'
+
 test_done
