diff --git a/Command/Map.hs b/Command/Map.hs
index ae8a694043..15ca5e1496 100644
--- a/Command/Map.hs
+++ b/Command/Map.hs
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ tryScan r
 			liftIO $ pipedconfig "ssh" sshparams
 			where
 				sshcmd = cddir ++ " && " ++
-					"git config --list"
+					"git config --null --list"
 				dir = Git.workTree r
 				cddir
 					| "/~" `isPrefixOf` dir =
diff --git a/Git/Config.hs b/Git/Config.hs
index 5f0e3fdc21..1fe9484992 100644
--- a/Git/Config.hs
+++ b/Git/Config.hs
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ read repo@(Repo { location = Dir d }) = do
 	   been already read. Instead, chdir to the repo. -}
 	cwd <- getCurrentDirectory
 	bracket_ (changeWorkingDirectory d) (changeWorkingDirectory cwd) $
-		pOpen ReadFromPipe "git" ["config", "--list"] $ hRead repo
+		pOpen ReadFromPipe "git" ["config", "--null", "--list"] $
+			hRead repo
 read r = assertLocal r $ error "internal"
 
 {- Reads git config from a handle and populates a repo with it. -}
@@ -51,8 +52,15 @@ store s repo = do
 	rs <- Git.Construct.fromRemotes repo'
 	return $ repo' { remotes = rs }
 
-{- Parses git config --list output into a config map. -}
+{- Parses git config --list or git config --null --list output into a
+ - config map. -}
 parse :: String -> M.Map String String
-parse s = M.fromList $ map pair $ lines s
+parse [] = M.empty
+parse s
+	-- --list output will have an = in the first line
+	| '=' `elem` head ls = M.fromList $ map (separate (== '=')) ls
+	-- --null --list output separates keys from values with newlines
+	| otherwise = M.fromList $ map (separate (== '\n')) $ split "\0" s
 	where
 		pair = separate (== '=')
+		ls = lines s
diff --git a/Remote/Git.hs b/Remote/Git.hs
index f27d170840..e527fa4fee 100644
--- a/Remote/Git.hs
+++ b/Remote/Git.hs
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ tryGitConfigRead r
 			withTempFile "git-annex.tmp" $ \tmpfile h -> do
 				hPutStr h s
 				hClose h
-				pOpen ReadFromPipe "git" ["config", "--list", "--file", tmpfile] $
+				pOpen ReadFromPipe "git" ["config", "--null", "--list", "--file", tmpfile] $
 					Git.Config.hRead r
 
 		store a = do
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 5fc01f9ead..3c977e817d 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ git-annex (3.20111212) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
   * Union merge now finds the least expensive way to represent the merge.
   * reinject: Add a sanity check for using an annexed file as the source file.
+  * Properly handle multiline git config values.
 
  -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:57:49 -0400