diff --git a/nbdev/_modidx.py b/nbdev/_modidx.py
index 30c90bfa4..85eeb3f9a 100644
--- a/nbdev/_modidx.py
+++ b/nbdev/_modidx.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
                               'nbdev.config._find_nbdev_pyproject': ('api/config.html#_find_nbdev_pyproject', 'nbdev/config.py'),
                               'nbdev.config._get_info': ('api/config.html#_get_info', 'nbdev/config.py'),
                               'nbdev.config._git_repo': ('api/config.html#_git_repo', 'nbdev/config.py'),
+                              'nbdev.config._git_root': ('api/config.html#_git_root', 'nbdev/config.py'),
                               'nbdev.config._has_nbdev': ('api/config.html#_has_nbdev', 'nbdev/config.py'),
                               'nbdev.config._has_py': ('api/config.html#_has_py', 'nbdev/config.py'),
                               'nbdev.config._index_mdoc': ('api/config.html#_index_mdoc', 'nbdev/config.py'),
diff --git a/nbdev/cli.py b/nbdev/cli.py
index 7652b9548..a477dd4ed 100644
--- a/nbdev/cli.py
+++ b/nbdev/cli.py
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@ async def nbdev_new(
     if name:
         Path(name).mkdir(exist_ok=True)
         os.chdir(name)
-        kwargs.setdefault('repo', name)
     nbdev_create_config.__wrapped__(**kwargs)
     cfg = get_config()
     if (Path('.git')).exists(): await _update_repo_meta(cfg)
diff --git a/nbdev/config.py b/nbdev/config.py
index 2d5bd060a..9c7409a4b 100644
--- a/nbdev/config.py
+++ b/nbdev/config.py
@@ -51,7 +51,13 @@ def _get_info(owner, repo, default_branch='main', default_kw='nbdev'):
     return r.default_branch, default_kw if not getattr(r, 'topics', []) else ' '.join(r.topics), r.description
 
 # %% ../nbs/api/01_config.ipynb #35d5c037
-def _fetch_from_git(raise_err=False):
+def _git_root(raise_err=False):
+    "Root of the current git repository, or `None` if there isn't one."
+    try: return Path(run('git rev-parse --show-toplevel').strip()).resolve()
+    except OSError:
+        if raise_err: raise
+
+def _fetch_from_git(raise_err=False, path=None):
     "Get information for pyproject.toml from git."
     res={}
     try:
@@ -59,6 +65,7 @@ def _fetch_from_git(raise_err=False):
         res['author_email'] = run('git config --get user.email').strip()
     except OSError as e:
         if raise_err: raise e
+    if path is not None and _git_root(raise_err)!=Path(path).resolve(): return res
     try:
         url = run('git config --get remote.origin.url')
         res['user'],res['repo'] = repo_details(url)
@@ -123,7 +130,7 @@ def nbdev_create_config(
     path.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)
     
     # Infer from git if not provided
-    inf,ucfg = _fetch_from_git(),_user_config()
+    inf,ucfg = _fetch_from_git(path=path),_user_config()
     repo = repo or inf.get('repo') or path.resolve().name
     user = user or inf.get('user') or ucfg.get('user', '')
     if not user: raise ValueError("Could not infer `user` from git. Please pass --user explicitly.")
diff --git a/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb b/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
index aeb5e9465..2c6145466 100644
--- a/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
+++ b/nbs/api/01_config.ipynb
@@ -170,7 +170,13 @@
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
     "#| export\n",
-    "def _fetch_from_git(raise_err=False):\n",
+    "def _git_root(raise_err=False):\n",
+    "    \"Root of the current git repository, or `None` if there isn't one.\"\n",
+    "    try: return Path(run('git rev-parse --show-toplevel').strip()).resolve()\n",
+    "    except OSError:\n",
+    "        if raise_err: raise\n",
+    "\n",
+    "def _fetch_from_git(raise_err=False, path=None):\n",
     "    \"Get information for pyproject.toml from git.\"\n",
     "    res={}\n",
     "    try:\n",
@@ -178,6 +184,7 @@
     "        res['author_email'] = run('git config --get user.email').strip()\n",
     "    except OSError as e:\n",
     "        if raise_err: raise e\n",
+    "    if path is not None and _git_root(raise_err)!=Path(path).resolve(): return res\n",
     "    try:\n",
     "        url = run('git config --get remote.origin.url')\n",
     "        res['user'],res['repo'] = repo_details(url)\n",
@@ -197,7 +204,10 @@
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
     "#| hide\n",
-    "#test_eq(_fetch_from_git(raise_err=True)['lib_name'], 'nbdev')"
+    "root = _git_root()\n",
+    "with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(dir=root) as d, working_directory(d):\n",
+    "    inf = _fetch_from_git(path='.')\n",
+    "    test_is(inf.get('repo'), None)"
    ]
   },
   {
@@ -269,7 +279,7 @@
     "    path.mkdir(exist_ok=True, parents=True)\n",
     "    \n",
     "    # Infer from git if not provided\n",
-    "    inf,ucfg = _fetch_from_git(),_user_config()\n",
+    "    inf,ucfg = _fetch_from_git(path=path),_user_config()\n",
     "    repo = repo or inf.get('repo') or path.resolve().name\n",
     "    user = user or inf.get('user') or ucfg.get('user', '')\n",
     "    if not user: raise ValueError(\"Could not infer `user` from git. Please pass --user explicitly.\")\n",
diff --git a/nbs/api/13_cli.ipynb b/nbs/api/13_cli.ipynb
index f96763beb..a7c382ed1 100644
--- a/nbs/api/13_cli.ipynb
+++ b/nbs/api/13_cli.ipynb
@@ -197,7 +197,6 @@
     "    if name:\n",
     "        Path(name).mkdir(exist_ok=True)\n",
     "        os.chdir(name)\n",
-    "        kwargs.setdefault('repo', name)\n",
     "    nbdev_create_config.__wrapped__(**kwargs)\n",
     "    cfg = get_config()\n",
     "    if (Path('.git')).exists(): await _update_repo_meta(cfg)\n",