diff --git a/Documentation/git-var.txt b/Documentation/git-var.txt
index 6aa521fab2..0ab5bfa7d7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-var.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-var.txt
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-Prints a Git logical variable.
+Prints a Git logical variable. Exits with code 1 if the variable has
+no value.
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
diff --git a/builtin/var.c b/builtin/var.c
index 491db27429..a1a2522126 100644
--- a/builtin/var.c
+++ b/builtin/var.c
@@ -11,12 +11,7 @@ static const char var_usage[] = "git var (-l | <variable>)";
 
 static const char *editor(int flag)
 {
-	const char *pgm = git_editor();
-
-	if (!pgm && flag & IDENT_STRICT)
-		die("Terminal is dumb, but EDITOR unset");
-
-	return pgm;
+	return git_editor();
 }
 
 static const char *pager(int flag)
@@ -56,18 +51,15 @@ static void list_vars(void)
 			printf("%s=%s\n", ptr->name, val);
 }
 
-static const char *read_var(const char *var)
+static const struct git_var *get_git_var(const char *var)
 {
 	struct git_var *ptr;
-	const char *val;
-	val = NULL;
 	for (ptr = git_vars; ptr->read; ptr++) {
 		if (strcmp(var, ptr->name) == 0) {
-			val = ptr->read(IDENT_STRICT);
-			break;
+			return ptr;
 		}
 	}
-	return val;
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 static int show_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
@@ -81,7 +73,9 @@ static int show_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 
 int cmd_var(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
-	const char *val = NULL;
+	const struct git_var *git_var;
+	const char *val;
+
 	if (argc != 2)
 		usage(var_usage);
 
@@ -91,10 +85,15 @@ int cmd_var(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		return 0;
 	}
 	git_config(git_default_config, NULL);
-	val = read_var(argv[1]);
-	if (!val)
+
+	git_var = get_git_var(argv[1]);
+	if (!git_var)
 		usage(var_usage);
 
+	val = git_var->read(IDENT_STRICT);
+	if (!val)
+		return 1;
+
 	printf("%s\n", val);
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/t/t0007-git-var.sh b/t/t0007-git-var.sh
index e56f4b9ac5..433d242897 100755
--- a/t/t0007-git-var.sh
+++ b/t/t0007-git-var.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ test_description='basic sanity checks for git var'
 TEST_PASSES_SANITIZE_LEAK=true
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+sane_unset_all_editors () {
+	sane_unset GIT_EDITOR &&
+	sane_unset VISUAL &&
+	sane_unset EDITOR
+}
+
 test_expect_success 'get GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT' '
 	test_tick &&
 	echo "$GIT_AUTHOR_NAME <$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL> $GIT_AUTHOR_DATE" >expect &&
@@ -47,6 +53,62 @@ test_expect_success 'get GIT_DEFAULT_BRANCH with configuration' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'get GIT_EDITOR without configuration' '
+	(
+		sane_unset_all_editors &&
+		test_expect_code 1 git var GIT_EDITOR >out &&
+		test_must_be_empty out
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get GIT_EDITOR with configuration' '
+	test_config core.editor foo &&
+	(
+		sane_unset_all_editors &&
+		echo foo >expect &&
+		git var GIT_EDITOR >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get GIT_EDITOR with environment variable GIT_EDITOR' '
+	(
+		sane_unset_all_editors &&
+		echo bar >expect &&
+		GIT_EDITOR=bar git var GIT_EDITOR >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get GIT_EDITOR with environment variable EDITOR' '
+	(
+		sane_unset_all_editors &&
+		echo bar >expect &&
+		EDITOR=bar git var GIT_EDITOR >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get GIT_EDITOR with configuration and environment variable GIT_EDITOR' '
+	test_config core.editor foo &&
+	(
+		sane_unset_all_editors &&
+		echo bar >expect &&
+		GIT_EDITOR=bar git var GIT_EDITOR >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get GIT_EDITOR with configuration and environment variable EDITOR' '
+	test_config core.editor foo &&
+	(
+		sane_unset_all_editors &&
+		echo foo >expect &&
+		EDITOR=bar git var GIT_EDITOR >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 # For git var -l, we check only a representative variable;
 # testing the whole output would make our test too brittle with
 # respect to unrelated changes in the test suite's environment.