diff --git a/cli/config/src/lib.rs b/cli/config/src/lib.rs
index 678688fe..3cd09b8d 100644
--- a/cli/config/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cli/config/src/lib.rs
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ impl Config {
         if let Ok(path) = env::var("TREE_SITTER_DIR") {
             let mut path = PathBuf::from(path);
             path.push("config.json");
+            if !path.exists() {
+                return Ok(None);
+            }
             if path.is_file() {
                 return Ok(Some(path));
             }
@@ -81,7 +84,13 @@ impl Config {
     ///
     /// (Note that this is typically only done by the `tree-sitter init-config` command.)
     pub fn initial() -> Result<Config> {
-        let location = Self::xdg_config_file()?;
+        let location = if let Ok(path) = env::var("TREE_SITTER_DIR") {
+            let mut path = PathBuf::from(path);
+            path.push("config.json");
+            path
+        } else {
+            Self::xdg_config_file()?
+        };
         let config = serde_json::json!({});
         Ok(Config { location, config })
     }