diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 611e554dea..67e74b7f75 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -1493,7 +1493,6 @@ extern int is_terminal_dumb(void);
 extern int git_ident_config(const char *, const char *, void *);
 /*
  * Prepare an ident to fall back on if the user didn't configure it.
- * Must be called before any other function from the ident API.
  */
 void prepare_fallback_ident(const char *name, const char *email);
 extern void reset_ident_date(void);
diff --git a/ident.c b/ident.c
index f30bd623f0..bce20e8652 100644
--- a/ident.c
+++ b/ident.c
@@ -507,9 +507,7 @@ int git_ident_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *data)
 
 static void set_env_if(const char *key, const char *value, int *given, int bit)
 {
-	if (*given & bit)
-		BUG("%s was checked before prepare_fallback got called", key);
-	if (getenv(key))
+	if ((*given & bit) || getenv(key))
 		return; /* nothing to do */
 	setenv(key, value, 0);
 	*given |= bit;
diff --git a/t/t3903-stash.sh b/t/t3903-stash.sh
index 5f8272b6f9..2115e8767e 100755
--- a/t/t3903-stash.sh
+++ b/t/t3903-stash.sh
@@ -1096,6 +1096,12 @@ test_expect_success 'stash -- <subdir> works with binary files' '
 	test_path_is_file subdir/untracked
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'stash with user.name and user.email set works' '
+	test_config user.name "A U Thor" &&
+	test_config user.email "a.u@thor" &&
+	git stash
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'stash works when user.name and user.email are not set' '
 	git reset &&
 	>1 &&