diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index 987e25e914..344ea98191 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -7390,7 +7390,10 @@ def do_build(self, subcmd, opts, *args):
 
         if not opts.local_package:
             store = osc_store.get_store(Path.cwd(), print_warnings=True)
-            store.assert_is_package()
+            if isinstance(store, git_scm.store.GitStore):
+                opts.local_package = True
+            else:
+                store.assert_is_package()
 
             try:
                 if opts.alternative_project and opts.alternative_project == store.project:
@@ -7404,6 +7407,7 @@ def do_build(self, subcmd, opts, *args):
             except oscerr.NoWorkingCopy:
                 store = None
 
+
         # HACK: avoid calling some underlying store_*() functions from parse_repoarchdescr() method
         # We'll fix parse_repoarchdescr() later because it requires a larger change
         if not opts.alternative_project and isinstance(store, git_scm.GitStore):
diff --git a/osc/git_scm/store.py b/osc/git_scm/store.py
index e72ef0dff5..ba03af6e17 100644
--- a/osc/git_scm/store.py
+++ b/osc/git_scm/store.py
@@ -31,8 +31,15 @@ def __init__(self, path, check=True):
         self.abspath = os.path.abspath(self.path)
 
         # TODO: how to determine if the current git repo contains a project or a package?
-        self.is_project = False
-        self.is_package = os.path.exists(os.path.join(self.abspath, ".git"))
+
+        # NOTE: we have only one store in project-git for all packages
+        self._toplevel = self._run_git(["rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"])
+        if self._toplevel == self.abspath:
+            self.is_project = True
+            self.is_package = False
+        else:
+            self.is_project = False
+            self.is_package = True
 
         self._package = None
         self._project = None
@@ -68,11 +75,17 @@ def apiurl(self):
 
     @property
     def project(self):
+        if self._project is None:
+            if self._toplevel:
+                with open(os.path.join(self._toplevel, '.osc/_project')) as f:
+                    self._project = f.readline().strip()
+
         if self._project is None:
             # get project from the branch name
             branch = self._run_git(["branch", "--show-current"])
 
             # HACK: replace hard-coded mapping with metadata from git or the build service
+            # NOTE: you never know which git repo is supposed to be used in which project
             if branch == "factory":
                 self._project = "openSUSE:Factory"
             else:
diff --git a/osc/obs_scm/package.py b/osc/obs_scm/package.py
index 6fd1a0ece7..6fa904cce4 100644
--- a/osc/obs_scm/package.py
+++ b/osc/obs_scm/package.py
@@ -1031,7 +1031,7 @@ def status(self, n):
             state = '?'
         else:
             # this case shouldn't happen (except there was a typo in the filename etc.)
-            raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'osc: \'{n}\' is not under version control')
+            raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'osc: \'{n}\' is not under version control L2')
 
         return state
 
@@ -1116,7 +1116,7 @@ def diff_add_delete(fname, add, revision):
                     raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, 'file \'%s\' is marked as \'A\' but does not exist\n'
                                             '(either add the missing file or revert it)' % fname)
                 elif not ignoreUnversioned:
-                    raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'file \'{fname}\' is not under version control')
+                    raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'file \'{fname}\' is not under version control L1')
         else:
             fm = self.get_files_meta(revision=revision)
             root = ET.fromstring(fm)
@@ -1551,7 +1551,7 @@ def run_source_services(self, mode=None, singleservice=None, verbose=None):
 
     def revert(self, filename):
         if filename not in self.filenamelist and filename not in self.to_be_added:
-            raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'file \'{filename}\' is not under version control')
+            raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'file \'{filename}\' is not under version control L3')
         elif filename in self.skipped:
             raise oscerr.OscIOError(None, f'file \'{filename}\' is marked as skipped and cannot be reverted')
         if filename in self.filenamelist and not self.store.sources_is_file(filename):
diff --git a/osc/store.py b/osc/store.py
index cf4d8bc352..a51b732294 100644
--- a/osc/store.py
+++ b/osc/store.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 
 import os
+import subprocess
 from xml.etree import ElementTree as ET
 
 from . import oscerr
@@ -28,7 +29,13 @@ def get_store(path, check=True, print_warnings=False):
         if print_warnings:
             git_scm.warn_experimental()
     else:
-        store = None
+        toplevel = subprocess.check_output(["git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel"], encoding="utf-8").strip()
+        if toplevel:
+            store = git_scm.GitStore(toplevel, check)
+            if print_warnings:
+                git_scm.warn_experimental()
+        else:
+            store = None
 
     if not store:
         msg = f"Directory '{path}' is not a working copy"