--- a/mercurial/dispatch.py	Thu Apr 23 15:40:10 2009 -0500
+++ b/mercurial/dispatch.py	Thu Apr 23 15:40:10 2009 -0500
@@ -198,19 +198,17 @@
 
     return (cmd, cmd and i[0] or None, args, options, cmdoptions)
 
-def _parseconfig(config):
+def _parseconfig(ui, config):
     """parse the --config options from the command line"""
-    parsed = []
     for cfg in config:
         try:
             name, value = cfg.split('=', 1)
             section, name = name.split('.', 1)
             if not section or not name:
                 raise IndexError
-            parsed.append((section, name, value))
+            ui.setconfig(section, name, value)
         except (IndexError, ValueError):
             raise util.Abort(_('malformed --config option: %s') % cfg)
-    return parsed
 
 def _earlygetopt(aliases, args):
     """Return list of values for an option (or aliases).
@@ -256,9 +254,7 @@
 def _dispatch(ui, args):
     # read --config before doing anything else
     # (e.g. to change trust settings for reading .hg/hgrc)
-    config = _earlygetopt(['--config'], args)
-    if config:
-        ui.updateopts(_parseconfig(config))
+    _parseconfig(ui, _earlygetopt(['--config'], args))
 
     # check for cwd
     cwd = _earlygetopt(['--cwd'], args)

--- a/mercurial/ui.py	Thu Apr 23 15:40:10 2009 -0500
+++ b/mercurial/ui.py	Thu Apr 23 15:40:10 2009 -0500
@@ -66,10 +66,6 @@
                 ui._isatty = False
         return ui._isatty
 
-    def updateopts(self, config):
-        for section, name, value in config:
-            self.setconfig(section, name, value)
-
     def verbosity_constraints(self):
         self.quiet = self.configbool('ui', 'quiet')
         self.verbose = self.configbool('ui', 'verbose')

--- a/tests/test-ui-config	Thu Apr 23 15:40:10 2009 -0500
+++ b/tests/test-ui-config	Thu Apr 23 15:40:10 2009 -0500
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from mercurial import ui, util, dispatch
 
 testui = ui.ui()
-parsed = dispatch._parseconfig([
+parsed = dispatch._parseconfig(testui, [
     'values.string=string value',
     'values.bool1=true',
     'values.bool2=false',
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
     'interpolation.value4=%(bad)1',
     'interpolation.value5=%bad2',
 ])
-testui.updateopts(config=parsed)
 
 print repr(testui.configitems('values'))
 print repr(testui.configitems('lists'))