diff --git a/book/src/languages.md b/book/src/languages.md
index 73c8121311e5b..9b90a2112b524 100644
--- a/book/src/languages.md
+++ b/book/src/languages.md
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ These configuration keys are available:
 | `name`                | The name of the language                                      |
 | `scope`               | A string like `source.js` that identifies the language. Currently, we strive to match the scope names used by popular TextMate grammars and by the Linguist library. Usually `source.<name>` or `text.<name>` in case of markup languages |
 | `injection-regex`     | regex pattern that will be tested against a language name in order to determine whether this language should be used for a potential [language injection][treesitter-language-injection] site. |
-| `file-types`          | The filetypes of the language, for example `["yml", "yaml"]`. Extensions and full file names are supported.  |
+| `file-types`          | The filetypes of the language, for example `["yml", "yaml"]`. This attempts to match by exact file name (`.zshrc`), then by file extension (`toml`), then by path suffix (`.git/config`). |
 | `shebangs`            | The interpreters from the shebang line, for example `["sh", "bash"]` |
 | `roots`               | A set of marker files to look for when trying to find the workspace root. For example `Cargo.lock`, `yarn.lock` |
 | `auto-format`         | Whether to autoformat this language when saving               |
diff --git a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
index a08e508415a03..f9a2ea5f7630f 100644
--- a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
+++ b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
@@ -471,9 +471,10 @@ impl Loader {
 
             for file_type in &config.file_types {
                 // entry().or_insert(Vec::new).push(language_id);
+                let file_type = file_type.replace('/', &std::path::MAIN_SEPARATOR.to_string());
                 loader
                     .language_config_ids_by_file_type
-                    .insert(file_type.clone(), language_id);
+                    .insert(file_type, language_id);
             }
             for shebang in &config.shebangs {
                 loader
@@ -498,6 +499,17 @@ impl Loader {
                 path.extension()
                     .and_then(|extension| extension.to_str())
                     .and_then(|extension| self.language_config_ids_by_file_type.get(extension))
+            })
+            .or_else(|| {
+                self.language_config_ids_by_file_type
+                    .iter()
+                    .find_map(|(file_type, id)| {
+                        if path.to_str()?.ends_with(file_type) {
+                            Some(id)
+                        } else {
+                            None
+                        }
+                    })
             });
 
         configuration_id.and_then(|&id| self.language_configs.get(id).cloned())
diff --git a/languages.toml b/languages.toml
index 39b81731fb799..ce3ba20adc388 100644
--- a/languages.toml
+++ b/languages.toml
@@ -1054,7 +1054,7 @@ name = "git-config"
 scope = "source.gitconfig"
 roots = []
 # TODO: allow specifying file-types as a regex so we can read directory names (e.g. `.git/config`)
-file-types = [".gitmodules", ".gitconfig"]
+file-types = [".gitmodules", ".gitconfig", ".git/config", ".config/git/config"]
 injection-regex = "git-config"
 comment-token = "#"
 indent = { tab-width = 4, unit = "\t" }