NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_EARLY     = 1 << 2,
     NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_WRITE     = 1 << 3,
     NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_CREATE    = 1 << 4,
+    NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_LOAD                = 1 << 5,
 } notmuch_command_mode_t;
 
 notmuch_config_t *
 
     { "reindex", notmuch_reindex_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_EARLY |
       NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_WRITE,
       "Re-index all messages matching the search terms." },
-    { "config", notmuch_config_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN,
+    { "config", notmuch_config_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN | NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_LOAD,
       "Get or set settings in the notmuch configuration file." },
 #if WITH_EMACS
     { "emacs-mua", NULL, 0,
     notmuch_config_t *config = NULL;
     notmuch_database_t *notmuch = NULL;
     int opt_index;
-    int ret;
+    int ret = EXIT_SUCCESS;
 
     notmuch_opt_desc_t options[] = {
        { .opt_string = &config_file_name, .name = "config" },
                return EXIT_FAILURE;
            }
        }
-    } else {
+    }
+
+    if (command->mode & NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_LOAD) {
+       char *status_string = NULL;
+       notmuch_status_t status;
+       status = notmuch_database_load_config (NULL,
+                                              config_file_name,
+                                              NULL,
+                                              ¬much,
+                                              &status_string);
+       if (status) {
+           if (status_string) {
+               fputs (status_string, stderr);
+               free (status_string);
+           }
+
+           if (status == NOTMUCH_STATUS_NO_CONFIG)
+               fputs ("Try running 'notmuch setup' to create a configuration.", stderr);
+           goto DONE;
+       }
+
+    }
+
+    if (command->mode & NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN) {
        config = notmuch_config_open (local, config_file_name, command->mode);
        if (! config) {
            ret = EXIT_FAILURE;