diff --git a/examples/custom-backend/main.rs b/examples/custom-backend/main.rs
index 94b5d0bb6..5e75c0794 100644
--- a/examples/custom-backend/main.rs
+++ b/examples/custom-backend/main.rs
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ use std::path::Path;
 
 use clap::{FromArgMatches, Subcommand};
 use git2::Repository;
-use jujutsu::cli_util::{create_ui, handle_command_result, parse_args, CommandError};
+use jujutsu::cli_util::{handle_command_result, parse_args, CommandError};
 use jujutsu::commands::{default_app, run_command};
+use jujutsu::config::read_config;
 use jujutsu::ui::Ui;
 use jujutsu_lib::backend::{
     Backend, BackendResult, Commit, CommitId, Conflict, ConflictId, FileId, SymlinkId, Tree, TreeId,
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ enum CustomCommands {
 }
 
 fn run(ui: &mut Ui) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
+    ui.reset(read_config()?);
     let app = CustomCommands::augment_subcommands(default_app());
     let (mut command_helper, matches) = parse_args(ui, app, std::env::args_os())?;
     let mut store_factories = StoreFactories::default();
@@ -62,8 +64,8 @@ fn run(ui: &mut Ui) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
 
 fn main() {
     jujutsu::cleanup_guard::init();
-    let (mut ui, result) = create_ui();
-    let result = result.and_then(|()| run(&mut ui));
+    let mut ui = Ui::new();
+    let result = run(&mut ui);
     let exit_code = handle_command_result(&mut ui, result);
     ui.finalize_writes();
     std::process::exit(exit_code);
diff --git a/examples/custom-command/main.rs b/examples/custom-command/main.rs
index 8a60fe689..6ac410ec8 100644
--- a/examples/custom-command/main.rs
+++ b/examples/custom-command/main.rs
@@ -14,9 +14,10 @@
 
 use clap::{FromArgMatches, Subcommand};
 use jujutsu::cli_util::{
-    create_ui, handle_command_result, parse_args, short_commit_description, CommandError,
+    handle_command_result, parse_args, short_commit_description, CommandError,
 };
 use jujutsu::commands::{default_app, run_command};
+use jujutsu::config::read_config;
 use jujutsu::ui::Ui;
 
 #[derive(clap::Parser, Clone, Debug)]
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ struct FrobnicateArgs {
 }
 
 fn run(ui: &mut Ui) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
+    ui.reset(read_config()?);
     let app = CustomCommands::augment_subcommands(default_app());
     let (command_helper, matches) = parse_args(ui, app, std::env::args_os())?;
     match CustomCommands::from_arg_matches(&matches) {
@@ -61,8 +63,8 @@ fn run(ui: &mut Ui) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
 
 fn main() {
     jujutsu::cleanup_guard::init();
-    let (mut ui, result) = create_ui();
-    let result = result.and_then(|()| run(&mut ui));
+    let mut ui = Ui::new();
+    let result = run(&mut ui);
     let exit_code = handle_command_result(&mut ui, result);
     ui.finalize_writes();
     std::process::exit(exit_code);
diff --git a/src/cli_util.rs b/src/cli_util.rs
index f2e74d5b0..51d6a4608 100644
--- a/src/cli_util.rs
+++ b/src/cli_util.rs
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ use jujutsu_lib::workspace::{Workspace, WorkspaceInitError, WorkspaceLoadError};
 use jujutsu_lib::{dag_walk, file_util, git, revset};
 use thiserror::Error;
 
-use crate::config::read_config;
 use crate::formatter::Formatter;
 use crate::merge_tools::{ConflictResolveError, DiffEditError};
 use crate::templater::TemplateFormatter;
@@ -102,6 +101,12 @@ impl From<config::ConfigError> for CommandError {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<crate::config::ConfigError> for CommandError {
+    fn from(err: crate::config::ConfigError) -> Self {
+        CommandError::ConfigError(err.to_string())
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<RewriteRootCommit> for CommandError {
     fn from(err: RewriteRootCommit) -> Self {
         user_error(err.to_string())
@@ -1469,19 +1474,6 @@ impl ValueParserFactory for RevisionArg {
     }
 }
 
-pub fn create_ui() -> (Ui, Result<(), CommandError>) {
-    // TODO: We need to do some argument parsing here, at least for things like
-    // --config, and for reading user configs from the repo pointed to by -R.
-    let mut ui = Ui::new();
-    match read_config() {
-        Ok(user_settings) => {
-            ui.reset(user_settings);
-            (ui, Ok(()))
-        }
-        Err(err) => (ui, Err(CommandError::ConfigError(err.to_string()))),
-    }
-}
-
 fn resolve_aliases(
     user_settings: &UserSettings,
     app: &clap::Command,
@@ -1578,6 +1570,8 @@ pub fn parse_args(
         }
     }
 
+    // TODO: read user configs from the repo pointed to by -R.
+
     let string_args = resolve_aliases(ui.settings(), &app, &string_args)?;
     handle_early_args(ui, &app, &string_args)?;
     let matches = app.clone().try_get_matches_from(&string_args)?;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 5446f3c64..a50395dae 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-use jujutsu::cli_util::{create_ui, handle_command_result, parse_args, CommandError};
+use jujutsu::cli_util::{handle_command_result, parse_args, CommandError};
 use jujutsu::commands::{default_app, run_command};
+use jujutsu::config::read_config;
 use jujutsu::ui::Ui;
 use tracing::metadata::LevelFilter;
 use tracing_subscriber::prelude::*;
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ fn run(
     ui: &mut Ui,
     reload_log_filter: Handle<EnvFilter, impl tracing::Subscriber>,
 ) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
+    ui.reset(read_config()?);
     let app = default_app();
     let (command_helper, matches) = parse_args(ui, app, std::env::args_os())?;
     if command_helper.global_args().verbose {
@@ -56,8 +58,8 @@ fn main() {
         .init();
 
     jujutsu::cleanup_guard::init();
-    let (mut ui, result) = create_ui();
-    let result = result.and_then(|()| run(&mut ui, reload_log_filter));
+    let mut ui = Ui::new();
+    let result = run(&mut ui, reload_log_filter);
     let exit_code = handle_command_result(&mut ui, result);
     ui.finalize_writes();
     std::process::exit(exit_code);