diff --git a/builtin/reflog.c b/builtin/reflog.c
index a1b4e02204..a17b5fa69e 100644
--- a/builtin/reflog.c
+++ b/builtin/reflog.c
@@ -415,6 +415,8 @@ static int cmd_reflog_write(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	const char *ref, *message;
 	int ret;
 
+	repo_config(repo, git_ident_config, NULL);
+
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, reflog_write_usage, 0);
 	if (argc != 4)
 		usage_with_options(reflog_write_usage, options);
diff --git a/t/t1421-reflog-write.sh b/t/t1421-reflog-write.sh
index 46df64c176..603ec3f6ed 100755
--- a/t/t1421-reflog-write.sh
+++ b/t/t1421-reflog-write.sh
@@ -108,6 +108,42 @@ test_expect_success 'simple writes' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'uses user.name and user.email config' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		COMMIT_OID=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+
+		sane_unset GIT_COMMITTER_NAME &&
+		sane_unset GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL &&
+		git config --local user.name "Author" &&
+		git config --local user.email "a@uth.or" &&
+		git reflog write refs/heads/something $ZERO_OID $COMMIT_OID first &&
+		test_reflog_matches . refs/heads/something <<-EOF
+		$ZERO_OID $COMMIT_OID Author <a@uth.or> $GIT_COMMITTER_DATE	first
+		EOF
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'environment variables take precedence over config' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		COMMIT_OID=$(git rev-parse HEAD) &&
+
+		git config --local user.name "Author" &&
+		git config --local user.email "a@uth.or" &&
+		git reflog write refs/heads/something $ZERO_OID $COMMIT_OID first &&
+		test_reflog_matches . refs/heads/something <<-EOF
+		$ZERO_OID $COMMIT_OID $SIGNATURE	first
+		EOF
+	)
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'can write to root ref' '
 	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
 	git init repo &&