Comment by x-yl

This behaviour is also important for ergonomic submodules. The .gitmodules file lists the upstream repo as the origin. So, if you're modifying an upstream project in a submodule and push changes to a fork, it's important that the SHA that git tracks is still reachable through the upstream link.

Ultimately I don't think it's feasible to break this behaviour and the most we can hope for is a big red warning when something counterintuitive happens.