diff --git a/cli/lightning-cli.c b/cli/lightning-cli.c
index 392ad88fc..117f6b19b 100644
--- a/cli/lightning-cli.c
+++ b/cli/lightning-cli.c
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	jsmntok_t *toks;
 	const jsmntok_t *result, *error, *id;
 	const tal_t *ctx = tal(NULL, char);
-	char *net_dir, *rpc_filename;
+	char *config_filename, *base_dir, *net_dir, *rpc_filename;
 	jsmn_parser parser;
 	int parserr;
 	enum format format = DEFAULT_FORMAT;
@@ -668,7 +668,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	setup_option_allocators();
 
 	opt_exitcode = ERROR_USAGE;
-	minimal_config_opts(ctx, argc, argv, &net_dir, &rpc_filename);
+	minimal_config_opts(ctx, argc, argv, &config_filename, &base_dir,
+			    &net_dir, &rpc_filename);
 
 	opt_register_noarg("--help|-h", opt_usage_and_exit,
 			   "<command> [<params>...]", "Show this message. Use the command help (without hyphens -- \"lightning-cli help\") to get a list of all RPC commands");
diff --git a/common/configdir.c b/common/configdir.c
index 8446ba16a..8f8a30eec 100644
--- a/common/configdir.c
+++ b/common/configdir.c
@@ -281,16 +281,18 @@ static struct configvar **gather_cmdline_args(const tal_t *ctx,
 
 void minimal_config_opts(const tal_t *ctx,
 			 int argc, char *argv[],
+			 char **config_filename,
+			 char **basedir,
 			 char **config_netdir,
 			 char **rpc_filename)
 {
-	char *unused_filename, *unused_basedir;
-
 	initial_config_opts(tmpctx, &argc, argv, false,
-			    &unused_filename,
-			    &unused_basedir,
+			    config_filename,
+			    basedir,
 			    config_netdir,
 			    rpc_filename);
+	tal_steal(ctx, *config_filename);
+	tal_steal(ctx, *basedir);
 	tal_steal(ctx, *config_netdir);
 	tal_steal(ctx, *rpc_filename);
 }
diff --git a/common/configdir.h b/common/configdir.h
index 283b4ec9c..e25207be5 100644
--- a/common/configdir.h
+++ b/common/configdir.h
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ void setup_option_allocators(void);
 /* Minimal config parsing for tools: use opt_early_parse/opt_parse after */
 void minimal_config_opts(const tal_t *ctx,
 			 int argc, char *argv[],
+			 char **config_filename,
+			 char **basedir,
 			 char **config_netdir,
 			 char **rpc_filename);
 
diff --git a/devtools/checkchannels.c b/devtools/checkchannels.c
index 538912938..d70407b14 100644
--- a/devtools/checkchannels.c
+++ b/devtools/checkchannels.c
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ static void copy_column(void *dst, size_t size,
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
+	char *config_filename, *base_dir;
 	char *net_dir, *rpc_filename, *hsmfile, *dbfile;
 	sqlite3 *sql;
 	sqlite3_stmt *stmt;
@@ -124,7 +125,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	setup_option_allocators();
 
-	minimal_config_opts(top_ctx, argc, argv, &net_dir, &rpc_filename);
+	minimal_config_opts(top_ctx, argc, argv, &config_filename, &base_dir,
+			    &net_dir, &rpc_filename);
 
 	opt_register_noarg("-v|--verbose", opt_set_bool, &verbose,
 			 "Print everything");