diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/ClangTidyOptions.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/ClangTidyOptions.cpp
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/ClangTidyOptions.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/ClangTidyOptions.cpp
@@ -275,9 +275,15 @@
       }
       CachedOptions[Path] = *Result;
 
-      CurOptions.push_back(*Result);
-      if (!Result->first.InheritParentConfig.getValueOr(false))
+      CurOptions.push_back(std::move(*Result));
+      if (!CurOptions.back().first.InheritParentConfig.getValueOr(false))
         break;
+      // Set search path to where the file where this config was loaded. If the
+      // Options were sourced from the cache, the actual source may be a parent
+      // directory of this. In which case we will then read a config that is
+      // identical to this on the next loop iteration.
+      // parent_path is used as OptionsSource contains directory and filename.
+      CurrentPath = llvm::sys::path::parent_path(CurOptions.back().second);
     }
   }
   // Reverse order of file configs because closer configs should have higher