diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index 6f8df366fbe7f1..fe5f871c4938f9 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -2728,9 +2728,12 @@ static int maintenance_start(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	opts.scheduler = resolve_scheduler(opts.scheduler);
 	validate_scheduler(opts.scheduler);
 
+	if (update_background_schedule(&opts, 1))
+		die(_("failed to set up maintenance schedule"));
+
 	if (maintenance_register(ARRAY_SIZE(register_args)-1, register_args, NULL))
 		warning(_("failed to add repo to global config"));
-	return update_background_schedule(&opts, 1);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static const char *const builtin_maintenance_stop_usage[] = {
diff --git a/t/t7900-maintenance.sh b/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
index a327973990e069..20889d874bdf83 100755
--- a/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
+++ b/t/t7900-maintenance.sh
@@ -843,4 +843,15 @@ test_expect_success 'register and unregister bare repo' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'failed schedule prevents config change' '
+	git init --bare failcase &&
+
+	for scheduler in crontab launchctl schtasks systemctl
+	do
+		GIT_TEST_MAINT_SCHEDULER="$scheduler:false" test_must_fail \
+			git -C failcase maintenance start &&
+		test_must_fail git -C failcase config maintenance.auto || return 1
+	done
+'
+
 test_done