if {[catch {
                        set fd [git_read cat-file commit $curHEAD]
                        fconfigure $fd -encoding binary -translation lf
-                       if {[catch {set enc $repo_config(i18n.commitencoding)}]} {
-                               set enc utf-8
-                       }
+                       # By default commits are assumed to be in utf-8
+                       set enc utf-8
                        while {[gets $fd line] > 0} {
                                if {[string match {parent *} $line]} {
                                        lappend parents [string range $line 7 end]
        if {$use_enc ne {}} {
                fconfigure $msg_wt -encoding $use_enc
        } else {
-               puts stderr [mc "warning: Tcl does not support encoding '%s'." $enc]
+               error_popup [mc "warning: Tcl does not support encoding '%s'." $enc]
                fconfigure $msg_wt -encoding utf-8
        }
        puts $msg_wt $msg