diff -u b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/Config.php b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/Config.php
--- b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/Config.php
+++ b/core/modules/migrate/src/Plugin/migrate/destination/Config.php
@@ -205,9 +205,15 @@
     if (!empty($this->pluginDefinition['destination_module'])) {
       return $this->pluginDefinition['destination_module'];
     }
+    // Config translations require the config_translation module so set the
+    // migration provider to 'config_translation'. The corresponding non
+    // translated configuration is expected to be handled in a separate
+    // migration.
     if (isset($this->configuration['translations'])) {
       return 'config_translation';
     }
+    // Get the module handling this configuration object from the config_name,
+    // which is of the form <module_name>.<configuration object name>
     return !empty($this->configuration['config_name']) ? explode('.', $this->configuration['config_name'], 2)[0] : NULL;
   }