diff --git a/lib/notmuch.h b/lib/notmuch.h
index 6a0e4c51..316385b8 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch.h
@@ -491,6 +491,9 @@ notmuch_database_load_config (const char *database_path,
  *
  * For description of arguments, @see notmuch_database_open_with_config
  *
+ * In case of any failure, this function returns an error status and
+ * sets *database to NULL.
+ *
  * @retval NOTMUCH_STATUS_SUCCESS: Successfully created the database.
  *
  * @retval NOTMUCH_STATUS_DATABASE_EXISTS: Database already exists, not created
diff --git a/test/T590-libconfig.sh b/test/T590-libconfig.sh
index 32ec072a..adb9b6e7 100755
--- a/test/T590-libconfig.sh
+++ b/test/T590-libconfig.sh
@@ -890,4 +890,32 @@ db == NULL: 1
 EOF
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
+test_begin_subtest "create: database set to null on missing config"
+test_subtest_known_broken
+cat c_head3 - c_tail3 <<'EOF' | test_C ${MAIL_DIR} "/nonexistent"
+  notmuch_status_t st = notmuch_database_create_with_config(argv[1],argv[2], NULL, &db, NULL);
+EOF
+cat <<EOF> EXPECTED
+== stdout ==
+db == NULL: 1
+== stderr ==
+EOF
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
+test_begin_subtest "create: database set to null on missing config (env)"
+test_subtest_known_broken
+old_NOTMUCH_CONFIG=${NOTMUCH_CONFIG}
+NOTMUCH_CONFIG="/nonexistent"
+cat c_head3 - c_tail3 <<'EOF' | test_C ${MAIL_DIR}
+  notmuch_status_t st = notmuch_database_create_with_config(argv[1],
+							  NULL, NULL, &db, NULL);
+EOF
+NOTMUCH_CONFIG=${old_NOTMUCH_CONFIG}
+cat <<EOF> EXPECTED
+== stdout ==
+db == NULL: 1
+== stderr ==
+EOF
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
 test_done