diff --git a/src/path.c b/src/path.c
index b7205a646..5fc7a055b 100644
--- a/src/path.c
+++ b/src/path.c
@@ -1708,6 +1708,7 @@ GIT_INLINE(unsigned int) dotgit_flags(
 	unsigned int flags)
 {
 	int protectHFS = 0, protectNTFS = 0;
+	int error = 0;
 
 	flags |= GIT_PATH_REJECT_DOT_GIT_LITERAL;
 
@@ -1720,13 +1721,13 @@ GIT_INLINE(unsigned int) dotgit_flags(
 #endif
 
 	if (repo && !protectHFS)
-		git_repository__cvar(&protectHFS, repo, GIT_CVAR_PROTECTHFS);
-	if (protectHFS)
+		error = git_repository__cvar(&protectHFS, repo, GIT_CVAR_PROTECTHFS);
+	if (!error && protectHFS)
 		flags |= GIT_PATH_REJECT_DOT_GIT_HFS;
 
 	if (repo && !protectNTFS)
-		git_repository__cvar(&protectNTFS, repo, GIT_CVAR_PROTECTNTFS);
-	if (protectNTFS)
+		error = git_repository__cvar(&protectNTFS, repo, GIT_CVAR_PROTECTNTFS);
+	if (!error && protectNTFS)
 		flags |= GIT_PATH_REJECT_DOT_GIT_NTFS;
 
 	return flags;