diff --git a/Annex/Environment.hs b/Annex/Environment.hs
index b153518499..fb1fecd217 100644
--- a/Annex/Environment.hs
+++ b/Annex/Environment.hs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {- git-annex environment
  -
- - Copyright 2012-2023 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
+ - Copyright 2012, 2013 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
  -
  - Licensed under the GNU AGPL version 3 or higher.
  -}
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ module Annex.Environment (
 ) where
 
 import Annex.Common
-import qualified Annex
 import Utility.UserInfo
 import qualified Git.Config
+import Config
 import Utility.Env.Set
 
 import Control.Exception
@@ -48,8 +48,11 @@ checkEnvironmentIO = whenM (isNothing <$> myUserGecos) $ do
 	ensureEnv var val = setEnv var val False
 
 {- Runs an action that commits to the repository, and if it fails, 
- - overrides user.email and user.name to a dummy value and tries
- - the action again. -}
+ - sets user.email and user.name to a dummy value and tries the action again.
+ -
+ - Note that user.email and user.name are left set afterwards, so this only
+ - needs to be used once to make sure that future commits will succeed.
+ -}
 ensureCommit :: Annex a -> Annex a
 ensureCommit a = either retry return =<< tryNonAsync a 
   where
@@ -57,8 +60,8 @@ ensureCommit a = either retry return =<< tryNonAsync a
 		( liftIO (throwIO e)
 		, do
 			name <- liftIO $ either (const "unknown") id <$> myUserName
-			Annex.addGitConfigOverride ("user.name=" ++ name)
-			Annex.addGitConfigOverride ("user.email=" ++ name)
+			setConfig "user.name" name
+			setConfig "user.email" name
 			a
 		)
 
diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 76037f24d3..1ca2a8c512 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ git-annex (10.20230330) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Sped up sqlite inserts 2x when built with persistent 2.14.5.0
   * Fix laziness bug introduced in last release that breaks use
     of --unlock-present and --hide-missing adjusted branches.
-  * Avoid setting user.name and user.email in the git config
-    when git is unable to detect them.
   * Support user.useConfigOnly git config.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:48:54 -0400