diff --git a/cli/cobra.go b/cli/cobra.go
index c6ce31dccf..178e820fd0 100644
--- a/cli/cobra.go
+++ b/cli/cobra.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 
 	pluginmanager "github.com/docker/cli/cli-plugins/manager"
 	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/command"
-	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/config"
 	cliflags "github.com/docker/cli/cli/flags"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/pkg/homedir"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/registry"
@@ -24,10 +23,8 @@ import (
 // setupCommonRootCommand contains the setup common to
 // SetupRootCommand and SetupPluginRootCommand.
 func setupCommonRootCommand(rootCmd *cobra.Command) (*cliflags.ClientOptions, *pflag.FlagSet, *cobra.Command) {
-	opts := cliflags.NewClientOptions()
 	flags := rootCmd.Flags()
-
-	flags.StringVar(&opts.ConfigDir, "config", config.Dir(), "Location of client config files")
+	opts := cliflags.NewClientOptions()
 	opts.InstallFlags(flags)
 
 	cobra.AddTemplateFunc("add", func(a, b int) int { return a + b })
diff --git a/cli/flags/options.go b/cli/flags/options.go
index 6c21b74f8d..5a6df9c889 100644
--- a/cli/flags/options.go
+++ b/cli/flags/options.go
@@ -73,10 +73,12 @@ func NewClientOptions() *ClientOptions {
 
 // InstallFlags adds flags for the common options on the FlagSet
 func (o *ClientOptions) InstallFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
+	configDir := config.Dir()
 	if dockerCertPath == "" {
-		dockerCertPath = config.Dir()
+		dockerCertPath = configDir
 	}
 
+	flags.StringVar(&o.ConfigDir, "config", configDir, "Location of client config files")
 	flags.BoolVarP(&o.Debug, "debug", "D", false, "Enable debug mode")
 	flags.StringVarP(&o.LogLevel, "log-level", "l", "info", `Set the logging level ("debug", "info", "warn", "error", "fatal")`)
 	flags.BoolVar(&o.TLS, "tls", dockerTLS, "Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify")