diff --git a/Documentation/config/core.txt b/Documentation/config/core.txt
index b6740b750f03aa..ab750979dd9e01 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/core.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/core.txt
@@ -755,3 +755,12 @@ core.WSLCompat::
 	The default value is false. When set to true, Git will set the mode
 	bits of the file in the way of wsl, so that the executable flag of
 	files can be set or read correctly.
+
+core.configWriteLockTimeoutMS::
+	When processes try to write to the config concurrently, it is likely
+	that one process "wins" and the other process(es) fail to lock the
+	config file. By configuring a timeout larger than zero, Git can be
+	told to try to lock the config again a couple times within the
+	specified timeout. If the timeout is configure to zero (which is the
+	default), Git will fail immediately when the config is already
+	locked.
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index d5b2a9b5099687..c8eb139c9fb2d1 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -3324,6 +3324,7 @@ int git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(const char *config_filename,
 					   const char *value_pattern,
 					   unsigned flags)
 {
+	static unsigned long timeout_ms = ULONG_MAX;
 	int fd = -1, in_fd = -1;
 	int ret;
 	struct lock_file lock = LOCK_INIT;
@@ -3342,11 +3343,16 @@ int git_config_set_multivar_in_file_gently(const char *config_filename,
 	if (!config_filename)
 		config_filename = filename_buf = git_pathdup("config");
 
+	if ((long)timeout_ms < 0 &&
+	    git_config_get_ulong("core.configWriteLockTimeoutMS", &timeout_ms))
+		timeout_ms = 0;
+
 	/*
 	 * The lock serves a purpose in addition to locking: the new
 	 * contents of .git/config will be written into it.
 	 */
-	fd = hold_lock_file_for_update(&lock, config_filename, 0);
+	fd = hold_lock_file_for_update_timeout(&lock, config_filename, 0,
+					       timeout_ms);
 	if (fd < 0) {
 		error_errno(_("could not lock config file %s"), config_filename);
 		ret = CONFIG_NO_LOCK;