diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 14461312b3..d0e9396bda 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -1456,10 +1456,10 @@ static int git_default_core_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 		if (!strcasecmp(value, "auto"))
 			default_abbrev = -1;
 		else if (!git_parse_maybe_bool_text(value))
-			default_abbrev = the_hash_algo->hexsz;
+			default_abbrev = GIT_MAX_HEXSZ;
 		else {
 			int abbrev = git_config_int(var, value, ctx->kvi);
-			if (abbrev < minimum_abbrev || abbrev > the_hash_algo->hexsz)
+			if (abbrev < minimum_abbrev)
 				return error(_("abbrev length out of range: %d"), abbrev);
 			default_abbrev = abbrev;
 		}
diff --git a/t/t4202-log.sh b/t/t4202-log.sh
index 86c695eb0a..e97826458c 100755
--- a/t/t4202-log.sh
+++ b/t/t4202-log.sh
@@ -1237,6 +1237,18 @@ test_expect_success 'log.abbrevCommit configuration' '
 	test_cmp expect.whatchanged.full actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success '--abbrev-commit with core.abbrev=false' '
+	git log --no-abbrev >expect &&
+	git -c core.abbrev=false log --abbrev-commit >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success '--abbrev-commit with core.abbrev=9000' '
+	git log --no-abbrev >expect &&
+	git -c core.abbrev=9000 log --abbrev-commit >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'show added path under "--follow -M"' '
 	# This tests for a regression introduced in v1.7.2-rc0~103^2~2
 	test_create_repo regression &&
diff --git a/t/t5601-clone.sh b/t/t5601-clone.sh
index cc0b953f14..5d7ea147f1 100755
--- a/t/t5601-clone.sh
+++ b/t/t5601-clone.sh
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ test_expect_success 'output from clone' '
 	test $(grep Clon output | wc -l) = 1
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'output from clone with core.abbrev does not crash' '
+	rm -fr dst &&
+	echo "Cloning into ${SQ}dst${SQ}..." >expect &&
+	git -c core.abbrev=12 clone -n "file://$(pwd)/src" dst >actual 2>&1 &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'clone does not keep pack' '
 
 	rm -fr dst &&