diff --git a/config.toml.example b/config.toml.example
index a20e6e8f0218a..3f5101ebf342f 100644
--- a/config.toml.example
+++ b/config.toml.example
@@ -283,7 +283,10 @@
 #codegen-tests = true
 
 # Flag indicating whether git info will be retrieved from .git automatically.
-#ignore-git = false
+# Having the git information can cause a lot of rebuilds during development.
+# Note: If this attribute is not explicity set (e.g. if left commented out) it
+# will default to true if channel = "dev", but will default to false otherwise.
+#ignore-git = true
 
 # When creating source tarballs whether or not to create a source tarball.
 #dist-src = false
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/config.rs b/src/bootstrap/config.rs
index 2c25f374e12a4..372e0906cc61e 100644
--- a/src/bootstrap/config.rs
+++ b/src/bootstrap/config.rs
@@ -401,6 +401,7 @@ impl Config {
         let mut debuginfo = None;
         let mut debug_assertions = None;
         let mut optimize = None;
+        let mut ignore_git = None;
 
         if let Some(ref llvm) = toml.llvm {
             match llvm.ccache {
@@ -432,6 +433,7 @@ impl Config {
             debuginfo_lines = rust.debuginfo_lines;
             debuginfo_only_std = rust.debuginfo_only_std;
             optimize = rust.optimize;
+            ignore_git = rust.ignore_git;
             debug_jemalloc = rust.debug_jemalloc;
             set(&mut config.rust_optimize_tests, rust.optimize_tests);
             set(&mut config.rust_debuginfo_tests, rust.debuginfo_tests);
@@ -440,7 +442,6 @@ impl Config {
             set(&mut config.use_jemalloc, rust.use_jemalloc);
             set(&mut config.backtrace, rust.backtrace);
             set(&mut config.channel, rust.channel.clone());
-            set(&mut config.ignore_git, rust.ignore_git);
             set(&mut config.rust_dist_src, rust.dist_src);
             set(&mut config.quiet_tests, rust.quiet_tests);
             config.rustc_default_linker = rust.default_linker.clone();
@@ -516,6 +517,9 @@ impl Config {
         config.rust_debug_assertions = debug_assertions.unwrap_or(default);
         config.rust_optimize = optimize.unwrap_or(!default);
 
+        let default = config.channel == "dev";
+        config.ignore_git = ignore_git.unwrap_or(default);
+
         config
     }
 
diff --git a/src/bootstrap/configure.py b/src/bootstrap/configure.py
index 0e11635c3a0b1..fa8b761336068 100755
--- a/src/bootstrap/configure.py
+++ b/src/bootstrap/configure.py
@@ -247,11 +247,17 @@ def set(key, value):
               arr = arr[part]
 
 for key in known_args:
-    # The `set` option is special and an be passed a bunch of times
+    # The `set` option is special and can be passed a bunch of times
     if key == 'set':
         for option, value in known_args[key]:
             keyval = value.split('=', 1)
-            set(keyval[0], True if len(keyval) == 1 else keyval[1])
+            if len(keyval) == 1 or keyval[1] == "true":
+                value = True
+            elif keyval[1] == "false":
+                value = False
+            else:
+                value = keyval[1]
+            set(keyval[0], value)
         continue
 
     # Ensure each option is only passed once
diff --git a/src/ci/docker/x86_64-gnu-distcheck/Dockerfile b/src/ci/docker/x86_64-gnu-distcheck/Dockerfile
index 786f59eb9f761..f16dd9809981e 100644
--- a/src/ci/docker/x86_64-gnu-distcheck/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/ci/docker/x86_64-gnu-distcheck/Dockerfile
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
 COPY scripts/sccache.sh /scripts/
 RUN sh /scripts/sccache.sh
 
-ENV RUST_CONFIGURE_ARGS --build=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
+ENV RUST_CONFIGURE_ARGS --build=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu --set rust.ignore-git=false
 ENV SCRIPT python2.7 ../x.py test distcheck
 ENV DIST_SRC 1