diff --git a/builtin/difftool.c b/builtin/difftool.c
index 41cd00066c..c7348a1dca 100644
--- a/builtin/difftool.c
+++ b/builtin/difftool.c
@@ -750,8 +750,7 @@ int cmd_difftool(int argc,
 	};
 	struct child_process child = CHILD_PROCESS_INIT;
 
-	if (repo)
-		repo_config(repo, difftool_config, &dt_options);
+	repo_config(repo, difftool_config, &dt_options);
 	dt_options.symlinks = dt_options.has_symlinks;
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, builtin_difftool_options,