diff --git a/go/cmd/dolt/cli/command.go b/go/cmd/dolt/cli/command.go
index f349ac4f9f..806fdaf9db 100644
--- a/go/cmd/dolt/cli/command.go
+++ b/go/cmd/dolt/cli/command.go
@@ -257,27 +257,26 @@ Run
 to set your account's default identity.
 Omit --global to set the identity only in this repository.
 
-fatal: empty ident name not allowed`
+fatal: empty ident name not allowed
+`
 )
 
 // CheckUserNameAndEmail returns true if the user name and email are set for this environment, or prints an error and
 // returns false if not.
 func CheckUserNameAndEmail(dEnv *env.DoltEnv) bool {
-	ok := true
-
 	_, err := dEnv.Config.GetString(env.UserEmailKey)
 	if err != nil {
 		PrintErr(userNameRequiredError)
-		ok = false
+		return false
 	}
 
 	_, err = dEnv.Config.GetString(env.UserNameKey)
 	if err != nil {
 		PrintErr(userNameRequiredError)
-		ok = false
+		return false
 	}
 
-	return ok
+	return true
 }
 
 func (hc SubCommandHandler) printUsage(commandStr string) {
diff --git a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/commit.go b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/commit.go
index 0b18262a4f..dce19d64f0 100644
--- a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/commit.go
+++ b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/commit.go
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ func (cmd CommitCmd) Exec(ctx context.Context, commandStr string, args []string,
 	help, usage := cli.HelpAndUsagePrinters(cli.GetCommandDocumentation(commandStr, commitDocs, ap))
 	apr := cli.ParseArgsOrDie(ap, args, help)
 
+	// This command creates a commit, so we need user identity
+	if !cli.CheckUserNameAndEmail(dEnv) {
+		return 1
+	}
+
 	// Check if the -all param is provided. Stage all tables if so.
 	allFlag := apr.Contains(cli.AllFlag)
 
diff --git a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/config.go b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/config.go
index 240dbfbdbc..b5ad5b0666 100644
--- a/go/cmd/dolt/commands/config.go
+++ b/go/cmd/dolt/commands/config.go
@@ -142,17 +142,27 @@ func getOperation(dEnv *env.DoltEnv, setCfgTypes *set.StrSet, args []string, pri
 		return 1
 	}
 
-	cfgTypesSl := setCfgTypes.AsSlice()
-	for _, cfgType := range cfgTypesSl {
-		if _, ok := dEnv.Config.GetConfig(newCfgElement(cfgType)); !ok {
-			cli.PrintErrln(color.RedString("Unable to read config."))
+	var cfg config.ReadableConfig
+	switch setCfgTypes.Size() {
+	case 0:
+		 cfg = dEnv.Config
+	case 1:
+		configElement := newCfgElement(setCfgTypes.AsSlice()[0])
+		var ok bool
+		cfg, ok = dEnv.Config.GetConfig(configElement)
+		if !ok {
+			cli.Println(color.RedString("No config found for %s", configElement.String()))
 			return 1
 		}
+	default:
+		// should be impossible due to earlier checks
+		cli.Println(color.RedString("Cannot get more than one config scope at once"))
+		return 1
 	}
 
-	val, err := dEnv.Config.GetString(args[0])
+	val, err := cfg.GetString(args[0])
 	if err != nil {
-		if err == config.ErrConfigParamNotFound {
+		if err != config.ErrConfigParamNotFound {
 			cli.PrintErrln(color.RedString("Unexpected error: %s", err.Error()))
 		}
 		// Not found prints no error but returns status 1