diff --git a/docs/Config.md b/docs/Config.md
index eca5fc4b6..666e465ec 100644
--- a/docs/Config.md
+++ b/docs/Config.md
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ confirmOnQuit: false
 # determines whether hitting 'esc' will quit the application when there is nothing to cancel/close
 quitOnTopLevelReturn: false
 disableStartupPopups: false
-notARepository: 'prompt' # one of: 'prompt' | 'create' | 'skip'
+notARepository: 'prompt' # one of: 'prompt' | 'create' | 'skip' | 'quit'
 promptToReturnFromSubprocess: true # display confirmation when subprocess terminates
 keybinding:
   universal:
@@ -531,3 +531,8 @@ notARepository: 'create'
 # to skip without creating a new repo
 notARepository: 'skip'
 ```
+
+```yaml
+# to exit immediately if run outside of the Git repository
+notARepository: 'quit'
+```
diff --git a/pkg/app/app.go b/pkg/app/app.go
index 3a1c127de..9e0679755 100644
--- a/pkg/app/app.go
+++ b/pkg/app/app.go
@@ -175,43 +175,52 @@ func (app *App) setupRepo() (bool, error) {
 			return false, err
 		}
 
-		shouldInitRepo := true
-		notARepository := app.UserConfig.NotARepository
-		initialBranch := ""
-		if notARepository == "prompt" {
+		var shouldInitRepo bool
+		initialBranchArg := ""
+		switch app.UserConfig.NotARepository {
+		case "prompt":
 			// Offer to initialize a new repository in current directory.
 			fmt.Print(app.Tr.CreateRepo)
 			response, _ := bufio.NewReader(os.Stdin).ReadString('\n')
-			if strings.Trim(response, " \r\n") != "y" {
-				shouldInitRepo = false
-			} else {
+			shouldInitRepo = (strings.Trim(response, " \r\n") == "y")
+			if shouldInitRepo {
 				// Ask for the initial branch name
 				fmt.Print(app.Tr.InitialBranch)
 				response, _ := bufio.NewReader(os.Stdin).ReadString('\n')
 				if trimmedResponse := strings.Trim(response, " \r\n"); len(trimmedResponse) > 0 {
-					initialBranch += "--initial-branch=" + trimmedResponse
+					initialBranchArg += "--initial-branch=" + app.OSCommand.Quote(trimmedResponse)
 				}
 			}
-		} else if notARepository == "skip" {
+		case "create":
+			shouldInitRepo = true
+		case "skip":
 			shouldInitRepo = false
-		}
-
-		if !shouldInitRepo {
-			// check if we have a recent repo we can open
-			for _, repoDir := range app.Config.GetAppState().RecentRepos {
-				if isRepo, _ := isDirectoryAGitRepository(repoDir); isRepo {
-					if err := os.Chdir(repoDir); err == nil {
-						return true, nil
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
-			fmt.Println(app.Tr.NoRecentRepositories)
+		case "quit":
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, app.Tr.NotARepository)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		default:
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, app.Tr.IncorrectNotARepository)
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
-		if err := app.OSCommand.Cmd.New("git init " + initialBranch).Run(); err != nil {
-			return false, err
+
+		if shouldInitRepo {
+			if err := app.OSCommand.Cmd.New("git init " + initialBranchArg).Run(); err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+			return false, nil
 		}
+
+		// check if we have a recent repo we can open
+		for _, repoDir := range app.Config.GetAppState().RecentRepos {
+			if isRepo, _ := isDirectoryAGitRepository(repoDir); isRepo {
+				if err := os.Chdir(repoDir); err == nil {
+					return true, nil
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, app.Tr.NoRecentRepositories)
+		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
 	return false, nil
diff --git a/pkg/i18n/english.go b/pkg/i18n/english.go
index d316c482e..6d3e0b111 100644
--- a/pkg/i18n/english.go
+++ b/pkg/i18n/english.go
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ type TranslationSet struct {
 	CreateRepo                          string
 	InitialBranch                       string
 	NoRecentRepositories                string
+	IncorrectNotARepository             string
 	AutoStashTitle                      string
 	AutoStashPrompt                     string
 	StashPrefix                         string
@@ -899,6 +900,7 @@ func EnglishTranslationSet() TranslationSet {
 		CreateRepo:                          "Not in a git repository. Create a new git repository? (y/n): ",
 		InitialBranch:                       "Branch name? (leave empty for git's default): ",
 		NoRecentRepositories:                "Must open lazygit in a git repository. No valid recent repositories. Exiting.",
+		IncorrectNotARepository:             "The value of 'notARepository' is incorrect. It should be one of 'prompt', 'create', 'skip', or 'quit'.",
 		AutoStashTitle:                      "Autostash?",
 		AutoStashPrompt:                     "You must stash and pop your changes to bring them across. Do this automatically? (enter/esc)",
 		StashPrefix:                         "Auto-stashing changes for ",