diff --git a/builtin-add.c b/builtin-add.c
index c1b229a9d8..56e522127c 100644
--- a/builtin-add.c
+++ b/builtin-add.c
@@ -298,6 +298,8 @@ int cmd_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int add_new_files;
 	int require_pathspec;
 
+	git_config(add_config, NULL);
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, builtin_add_options,
 			  builtin_add_usage, PARSE_OPT_KEEP_ARGV0);
 	if (patch_interactive)
@@ -305,8 +307,6 @@ int cmd_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (add_interactive)
 		exit(interactive_add(argc - 1, argv + 1, prefix));
 
-	git_config(add_config, NULL);
-
 	if (edit_interactive)
 		return(edit_patch(argc, argv, prefix));
 	argc--;
diff --git a/ll-merge.c b/ll-merge.c
index 31d6f0a2ee..9168958e86 100644
--- a/ll-merge.c
+++ b/ll-merge.c
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ static int read_merge_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 	if (!strcmp(var, "merge.default")) {
 		if (value)
-			default_ll_merge = strdup(value);
+			default_ll_merge = xstrdup(value);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ static int read_merge_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 	if (!strcmp("name", ep)) {
 		if (!value)
 			return error("%s: lacks value", var);
-		fn->description = strdup(value);
+		fn->description = xstrdup(value);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -288,14 +288,14 @@ static int read_merge_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 		 * file named by %A, and signal that it has done with zero exit
 		 * status.
 		 */
-		fn->cmdline = strdup(value);
+		fn->cmdline = xstrdup(value);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
 	if (!strcmp("recursive", ep)) {
 		if (!value)
 			return error("%s: lacks value", var);
-		fn->recursive = strdup(value);
+		fn->recursive = xstrdup(value);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
diff --git a/t/t3700-add.sh b/t/t3700-add.sh
index 6ce8256a17..6ae5a2cd95 100755
--- a/t/t3700-add.sh
+++ b/t/t3700-add.sh
@@ -221,6 +221,19 @@ test_expect_success POSIXPERM 'git add (add.ignore-errors = false)' '
 	test_must_fail git add --verbose . &&
 	! ( git ls-files foo1 | grep foo1 )
 '
+rm -f foo2
+
+test_expect_success '--no-ignore-errors overrides config' '
+       git config add.ignore-errors 1 &&
+       git reset --hard &&
+       date >foo1 &&
+       date >foo2 &&
+       chmod 0 foo2 &&
+       test_must_fail git add --verbose --no-ignore-errors . &&
+       ! ( git ls-files foo1 | grep foo1 ) &&
+       git config add.ignore-errors 0
+'
+rm -f foo2
 
 test_expect_success BSLASHPSPEC "git add 'fo\\[ou\\]bar' ignores foobar" '
 	git reset --hard &&