diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8064cae18..cba2bcfb6 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -280,11 +280,18 @@ int git_parse_ulong(const char *value, unsigned long *ret)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static void die_bad_config(const char *name)
+{
+	if (config_file_name)
+		die("bad config value for '%s' in %s", name, config_file_name);
+	die("bad config value for '%s'", name);
+}
+
 int git_config_int(const char *name, const char *value)
 {
 	long ret;
 	if (!git_parse_long(value, &ret))
-		die("bad config value for '%s' in %s", name, config_file_name);
+		die_bad_config(name);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -292,7 +299,7 @@ unsigned long git_config_ulong(const char *name, const char *value)
 {
 	unsigned long ret;
 	if (!git_parse_ulong(value, &ret))
-		die("bad config value for '%s' in %s", name, config_file_name);
+		die_bad_config(name);
 	return ret;
 }