diff --git a/src/config/user/mod.rs b/src/config/user/mod.rs
index e567d421d..d503cc03c 100644
--- a/src/config/user/mod.rs
+++ b/src/config/user/mod.rs
@@ -78,16 +78,16 @@ pub use sections::{
 /// identifies which layer failed so callers can emit targeted diagnostics
 /// (file errors with line/col vs env-var attribution).
 ///
-/// Strict loading treats the first issue as fatal; best-effort
-/// [`UserConfig::load_with_warnings()`] returns all issues alongside the
-/// usable config.
+/// Strict loading treats the first issue other than a rejected env-var
+/// override as fatal; best-effort [`UserConfig::load_with_warnings()`]
+/// returns all issues alongside the usable config.
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub enum LoadError {
     /// A file parser failed, retaining its source and raw diagnosis.
     File(super::ConfigParseError),
-    /// Config files parsed cleanly; applying env-var overrides failed.
-    /// `vars` lists the exact `WORKTRUNK_*` env vars that were parsed
-    /// as `(name, value)` pairs.
+    /// An env-var override setting was rejected; other settings' overrides
+    /// may still apply. `vars` lists the `WORKTRUNK_*` env vars forming the
+    /// rejected setting as `(name, value)` pairs.
     Env {
         err: String,
         vars: Vec<(String, String)>,
@@ -675,10 +675,18 @@ impl UserConfig {
 
     /// Like [`load()`](Self::load), but returns a [`LoadError`] that
     /// distinguishes file-level parse failures (with line/col) from
-    /// env-var override failures.
+    /// `--config-set` and validation failures.
+    ///
+    /// A rejected env-var override is not an error: like the tolerant load,
+    /// the setting falls back to the file layers and the other overrides
+    /// still apply. Its warning is emitted at startup by the user-config
+    /// prewarm, so every command reports it the same way.
     pub(crate) fn load_with_cause() -> Result<Self, LoadError> {
         let (config, warnings) = Self::load_with_warnings();
-        if let Some(err) = warnings.into_iter().next() {
+        if let Some(err) = warnings
+            .into_iter()
+            .find(|warning| !matches!(warning, LoadError::Env { .. }))
+        {
             return Err(err);
         }
         Ok(config)
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests/eval.rs b/tests/integration_tests/eval.rs
index 7a0859878..da0abf4c8 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests/eval.rs
+++ b/tests/integration_tests/eval.rs
@@ -15,22 +15,21 @@ fn test_eval_branch(repo: TestRepo) {
     ));
 }
 
-/// A strict command keeps the invalid override's diagnosis once in its fatal
-/// block, independently of the earlier tolerant-load warning.
+/// A command skips an invalid env override the way `wt list` does: the
+/// startup warning names it once, and the command still runs.
 #[rstest]
-fn test_eval_invalid_env_override_keeps_one_fatal_diagnosis(repo: TestRepo) {
+fn test_eval_skips_invalid_env_override(repo: TestRepo) {
     repo.write_test_config("[list]\nbranches = true\n");
     let mut cmd = repo.wt_command();
     cmd.env("WORKTRUNK__LIST__BRANCHES", "not-a-bool")
         .args(["step", "eval", "{{ branch }}"]);
 
     let output = cmd.output().unwrap();
-    assert_eq!(output.status.code(), Some(1));
-    assert!(output.stdout.is_empty());
+    assert!(output.status.success(), "{output:?}");
+    assert_eq!(String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).trim(), "main");
     let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
     let stderr = stderr.ansi_strip();
-    let (_, fatal) = stderr.split_once("✗ Failed to load config").unwrap();
-    assert_eq!(fatal.matches("invalid type:").count(), 1, "{stderr}");
+    assert_eq!(stderr.matches("invalid type:").count(), 1, "{stderr}");
 
     let settings = crate::common::setup_snapshot_settings(&repo);
     settings.bind(|| insta::assert_snapshot!(stderr));
diff --git a/tests/snapshots/integration__integration_tests__eval__eval_invalid_env_override_keeps_one_fatal_diagnosis.snap b/tests/snapshots/integration__integration_tests__eval__eval_skips_invalid_env_override.snap
similarity index 67%
rename from tests/snapshots/integration__integration_tests__eval__eval_invalid_env_override_keeps_one_fatal_diagnosis.snap
rename to tests/snapshots/integration__integration_tests__eval__eval_skips_invalid_env_override.snap
index 2b96a44b5..eb10cbaf3 100644
--- a/tests/snapshots/integration__integration_tests__eval__eval_invalid_env_override_keeps_one_fatal_diagnosis.snap
+++ b/tests/snapshots/integration__integration_tests__eval__eval_skips_invalid_env_override.snap
@@ -5,6 +5,3 @@ expression: stderr
 ▲ Ignoring env var overrides: WORKTRUNK__LIST__BRANCHES=not-a-bool
   invalid type: string "not-a-bool", expected a boolean
   in `list.branches`
-✗ Failed to load config
-  invalid type: string "not-a-bool", expected a boolean
-  in `list.branches`