diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index 3a554ad50c..7f6c25d4d9 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -496,6 +496,9 @@ int cmd_config(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		usage_with_options(builtin_config_usage, builtin_config_options);
 	}
 
+	if (use_local_config && nongit)
+		die(_("--local can only be used inside a git repository"));
+
 	if (given_config_source.file &&
 			!strcmp(given_config_source.file, "-")) {
 		given_config_source.file = NULL;
diff --git a/t/t1300-repo-config.sh b/t/t1300-repo-config.sh
index 867704a642..13b7851f7c 100755
--- a/t/t1300-repo-config.sh
+++ b/t/t1300-repo-config.sh
@@ -1539,7 +1539,7 @@ test_expect_success !MINGW '--show-origin blob ref' '
 	test_cmp expect output
 '
 
-test_expect_failure '--local requires a repo' '
+test_expect_success '--local requires a repo' '
 	# we expect 128 to ensure that we do not simply
 	# fail to find anything and return code "1"
 	test_expect_code 128 nongit git config --local foo.bar