diff --git a/git_review/cmd.py b/git_review/cmd.py
index 28cf862..19f7e34 100755
--- a/git_review/cmd.py
+++ b/git_review/cmd.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 
 VERBOSE = False
 UPDATE = False
+LOCAL_MODE = 'GITREVIEW_LOCAL_MODE' in os.environ
 CONFIGDIR = os.path.expanduser("~/.config/git-review")
 GLOBAL_CONFIG = "/etc/git-review/git-review.conf"
 USER_CONFIG = os.path.join(CONFIGDIR, "git-review.conf")
@@ -228,6 +229,9 @@ def git_config_get_value(section, option, default=None, as_bool=False):
     cmd = ["git", "config", "--get", "%s.%s" % (section, option)]
     if as_bool:
         cmd.insert(2, "--bool")
+    if LOCAL_MODE:
+        __, git_dir = git_directories()
+        cmd[2:2] = ['-f', os.path.join(git_dir, 'config')]
     try:
         return run_command_exc(GitConfigException, *cmd).strip()
     except GitConfigException as exc:
@@ -522,8 +526,11 @@ def get_config(config_file=None):
     with the narrowest scope wins.
     """
     config = DEFAULTS.copy()
-    for filename in (GLOBAL_CONFIG, USER_CONFIG, config_file):
-        if filename is not None and os.path.exists(filename):
+    filenames = [] if LOCAL_MODE else [GLOBAL_CONFIG, USER_CONFIG]
+    if config_file:
+        filenames.append(config_file)
+    for filename in filenames:
+        if os.path.exists(filename):
             config.update(load_config_file(filename))
     return config
 
diff --git a/git_review/tests/__init__.py b/git_review/tests/__init__.py
index b945170..e606398 100644
--- a/git_review/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/git_review/tests/__init__.py
@@ -145,6 +145,10 @@ def setUp(self):
         self.useFixture(fixtures.Timeout(2 * 60, True))
         BaseGitReviewTestCase._test_counter += 1
 
+        # ensures git-review command runs in local mode (for functional tests)
+        self.useFixture(
+            fixtures.EnvironmentVariable('GITREVIEW_LOCAL_MODE', ''))
+
         self.init_dirs()
         ssh_addr, ssh_port, http_addr, http_port, self.site_dir = \
             self._pick_gerrit_port_and_dir()
diff --git a/git_review/tests/test_unit.py b/git_review/tests/test_unit.py
index c20149e..39f3bc8 100644
--- a/git_review/tests/test_unit.py
+++ b/git_review/tests/test_unit.py
@@ -26,7 +26,28 @@
 import mock
 import testtools
 
-import git_review
+from git_review import cmd
+
+
+class ConfigTestCase(testtools.TestCase):
+    """Class testing config behavior."""
+
+    @mock.patch('git_review.cmd.LOCAL_MODE',
+                mock.PropertyMock(return_value=True))
+    @mock.patch('git_review.cmd.git_directories', return_value=['', 'fake'])
+    @mock.patch('git_review.cmd.run_command_exc')
+    def test_git_local_mode(self, run_mock, dir_mock):
+        cmd.git_config_get_value('abc', 'def')
+        run_mock.assert_called_once_with(
+            cmd.GitConfigException,
+            'git', 'config', '-f', 'fake/config', '--get', 'abc.def')
+
+    @mock.patch('git_review.cmd.LOCAL_MODE',
+                mock.PropertyMock(return_value=True))
+    @mock.patch('os.path.exists', return_value=False)
+    def test_gitreview_local_mode(self, exists_mock):
+        cmd.get_config()
+        self.assertFalse(exists_mock.called)
 
 
 class GitReviewConsole(testtools.TestCase):
@@ -56,7 +77,7 @@ def test_list_reviews_no_blanks(self, mock_query):
 
         mock_query.return_value = self.reviews
         with mock.patch('sys.stdout', new_callable=io.StringIO) as output:
-            git_review.cmd.list_reviews(None)
+            cmd.list_reviews(None)
             console_output = output.getvalue().split('\n')
 
         wrapper = textwrap.TextWrapper(replace_whitespace=False,