diff --git a/notmuch-client.h b/notmuch-client.h
index 21b08798..10991224 100644
--- a/notmuch-client.h
+++ b/notmuch-client.h
@@ -263,10 +263,15 @@ json_quote_str (const void *ctx, const char *str);
 
 /* notmuch-config.c */
 
+typedef enum {
+    NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN	= 1 << 0,
+    NOTMUCH_CONFIG_CREATE = 1 << 1,
+} notmuch_config_mode_t;
+
 notmuch_config_t *
 notmuch_config_open (void *ctx,
 		     const char *filename,
-		     notmuch_bool_t create_new);
+		     notmuch_config_mode_t config_mode);
 
 void
 notmuch_config_close (notmuch_config_t *config);
diff --git a/notmuch-config.c b/notmuch-config.c
index b202bb1e..959410cc 100644
--- a/notmuch-config.c
+++ b/notmuch-config.c
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ out:
 notmuch_config_t *
 notmuch_config_open (void *ctx,
 		     const char *filename,
-		     notmuch_bool_t create_new)
+		     notmuch_config_mode_t config_mode)
 {
     GError *error = NULL;
     size_t tmp;
@@ -356,9 +356,13 @@ notmuch_config_open (void *ctx,
 
     config->key_file = g_key_file_new ();
 
-    if (! get_config_from_file (config, create_new)) {
-	talloc_free (config);
-	return NULL;
+    if (config_mode & NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN) {
+	notmuch_bool_t create_new = (config_mode & NOTMUCH_CONFIG_CREATE) != 0;
+
+	if (! get_config_from_file (config, create_new)) {
+	    talloc_free (config);
+	    return NULL;
+	}
     }
 
     /* Whenever we know of configuration sections that don't appear in
diff --git a/notmuch.c b/notmuch.c
index b9c32032..8e332ce6 100644
--- a/notmuch.c
+++ b/notmuch.c
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ typedef int (*command_function_t) (notmuch_config_t *config, int argc, char *arg
 typedef struct command {
     const char *name;
     command_function_t function;
-    notmuch_bool_t create_config;
+    notmuch_config_mode_t config_mode;
     const char *summary;
 } command_t;
 
@@ -97,35 +97,35 @@ int notmuch_minimal_options (const char *subcommand_name,
 }
 
 static command_t commands[] = {
-    { NULL, notmuch_command, TRUE,
+    { NULL, notmuch_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN | NOTMUCH_CONFIG_CREATE,
       "Notmuch main command." },
-    { "setup", notmuch_setup_command, TRUE,
+    { "setup", notmuch_setup_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN | NOTMUCH_CONFIG_CREATE,
       "Interactively set up notmuch for first use." },
-    { "new", notmuch_new_command, FALSE,
+    { "new", notmuch_new_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Find and import new messages to the notmuch database." },
-    { "insert", notmuch_insert_command, FALSE,
+    { "insert", notmuch_insert_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Add a new message into the maildir and notmuch database." },
-    { "search", notmuch_search_command, FALSE,
+    { "search", notmuch_search_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Search for messages matching the given search terms." },
-    { "address", notmuch_address_command, FALSE,
+    { "address", notmuch_address_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Get addresses from messages matching the given search terms." },
-    { "show", notmuch_show_command, FALSE,
+    { "show", notmuch_show_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Show all messages matching the search terms." },
-    { "count", notmuch_count_command, FALSE,
+    { "count", notmuch_count_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Count messages matching the search terms." },
-    { "reply", notmuch_reply_command, FALSE,
+    { "reply", notmuch_reply_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Construct a reply template for a set of messages." },
-    { "tag", notmuch_tag_command, FALSE,
+    { "tag", notmuch_tag_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Add/remove tags for all messages matching the search terms." },
-    { "dump", notmuch_dump_command, FALSE,
+    { "dump", notmuch_dump_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Create a plain-text dump of the tags for each message." },
-    { "restore", notmuch_restore_command, FALSE,
+    { "restore", notmuch_restore_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Restore the tags from the given dump file (see 'dump')." },
-    { "compact", notmuch_compact_command, FALSE,
+    { "compact", notmuch_compact_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Compact the notmuch database." },
-    { "config", notmuch_config_command, FALSE,
+    { "config", notmuch_config_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Get or set settings in the notmuch configuration file." },
-    { "help", notmuch_help_command, TRUE, /* create but don't save config */
+    { "help", notmuch_help_command, NOTMUCH_CONFIG_CREATE, /* create but don't save config */
       "This message, or more detailed help for the named command." }
 };
 
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	goto DONE;
     }
 
-    config = notmuch_config_open (local, config_file_name, command->create_config);
+    config = notmuch_config_open (local, config_file_name, command->config_mode);
     if (!config) {
 	ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
 	goto DONE;