diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index ca1edd901e..34ddc5b8d8 100644
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -357,9 +357,8 @@ static int handle_config(const char *key, const char *value, void *cb)
 			return 0;
 		branch = make_branch(name, subkey - name);
 		if (!strcmp(subkey, ".remote")) {
-			if (!value)
-				return config_error_nonbool(key);
-			branch->remote_name = xstrdup(value);
+			if (git_config_string(&branch->remote_name, key, value))
+				return -1;
 			if (branch == current_branch) {
 				default_remote_name = branch->remote_name;
 				explicit_default_remote_name = 1;