diff --git a/Annex/Fixup.hs b/Annex/Fixup.hs
index 38cb676a1c..8730b83230 100644
--- a/Annex/Fixup.hs
+++ b/Annex/Fixup.hs
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ fixupUnusualRepos r@(Repo { location = l@(Local { worktree = Just w, gitdir = d
 		R.createSymbolicLink linktarget dotgit
 	
 	unsetcoreworktree =
-		maybe (error "unset core.worktree failed") (\_ -> return ())
+		maybe (giveup "unset core.worktree failed") (\_ -> return ())
 			=<< Git.Config.unset "core.worktree" r
 	
 	worktreefixup =