diff --git a/fsmonitor-settings.c b/fsmonitor-settings.c
index 3b54e7a51f6293..757d230d538056 100644
--- a/fsmonitor-settings.c
+++ b/fsmonitor-settings.c
@@ -22,11 +22,10 @@ static void lookup_fsmonitor_settings(struct repository *r)
 		return;
 
 	CALLOC_ARRAY(s, 1);
+	s->mode = FSMONITOR_MODE_DISABLED;
 
 	r->settings.fsmonitor = s;
 
-	fsm_settings__set_disabled(r);
-
 	/*
 	 * Overload the existing "core.fsmonitor" config setting (which
 	 * has historically been either unset or a hook pathname) to