diff --git a/builtin-rev-list.c b/builtin-rev-list.c
index 1bb3a06680..c2db5a5b03 100644
--- a/builtin-rev-list.c
+++ b/builtin-rev-list.c
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ int cmd_rev_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	int i;
 	int read_from_stdin = 0;
 
+	git_config(git_default_config);
 	init_revisions(&revs, prefix);
 	revs.abbrev = 0;
 	revs.commit_format = CMIT_FMT_UNSPECIFIED;