diff --git a/wp-admin/setup-config.php b/wp-admin/setup-config.php
index 11f73ff25f..4b0b564998 100644
--- a/wp-admin/setup-config.php
+++ b/wp-admin/setup-config.php
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ if (file_exists('../wp-config.php'))
 	wp_die("<p>The file 'wp-config.php' already exists. If you need to reset any of the configuration items in this file, please delete it first. You may try <a href='install.php'>installing now</a>.</p>");
 
 // Check if wp-config.php exists above the root directory
-if (file_exists('../../wp-config.php'))
+if (file_exists('../../wp-config.php') && ! file_exists('../../wp-load.php'))
 	wp_die("<p>The file 'wp-config.php' already exists one level above your WordPress installation. If you need to reset any of the configuration items in this file, please delete it first. You may try <a href='install.php'>installing now</a>.</p>");
 
 if (isset($_GET['step']))
diff --git a/wp-load.php b/wp-load.php
index 423edf54b4..8e9768f8c3 100644
--- a/wp-load.php
+++ b/wp-load.php
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . 'wp-config.php') ) {
 	/** The config file resides in ABSPATH */
 	require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-config.php' );
 
-} elseif ( file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-config.php' ) ) {
+} elseif ( file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-config.php' ) && ! file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-load.php' ) ) {
 
 	/** The config file resides one level below ABSPATH */
 	require_once( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-config.php' );