diff --git a/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm b/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm
index f3614d9..45d5133 100644
--- a/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm
+++ b/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ sub git_config {
     my ( $repo, $key ) = @_;
     $key ||= '.';
 
+    return {} if repo_missing($repo);
     load($repo);
 
     # read comments bottom up