diff --git a/Documentation/git-credential-store.txt b/Documentation/git-credential-store.txt
index bc97071e76..e3c8f276b1 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-credential-store.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-credential-store.txt
@@ -31,10 +31,41 @@ OPTIONS
 
 --file=<path>::
 
-	Use `<path>` to store credentials. The file will have its
+	Use `<path>` to lookup and store credentials. The file will have its
 	filesystem permissions set to prevent other users on the system
 	from reading it, but will not be encrypted or otherwise
-	protected. Defaults to `~/.git-credentials`.
+	protected. If not specified, credentials will be searched for from
+	`~/.git-credentials` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/credentials`, and
+	credentials will be written to `~/.git-credentials` if it exists, or
+	`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/credentials` if it exists and the former does
+	not. See also <<FILES>>.
+
+[[FILES]]
+FILES
+-----
+
+If not set explicitly with '--file', there are two files where
+git-credential-store will search for credentials in order of precedence:
+
+~/.git-credentials::
+	User-specific credentials file.
+
+$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/credentials::
+	Second user-specific credentials file. If '$XDG_CONFIG_HOME' is not set
+	or empty, `$HOME/.config/git/credentials` will be used. Any credentials
+	stored in this file will not be used if `~/.git-credentials` has a
+	matching credential as well. It is a good idea not to create this file
+	if you sometimes use older versions of Git that do not support it.
+
+For credential lookups, the files are read in the order given above, with the
+first matching credential found taking precedence over credentials found in
+files further down the list.
+
+Credential storage will by default write to the first existing file in the
+list. If none of these files exist, `~/.git-credentials` will be created and
+written to.
+
+When erasing credentials, matching credentials will be erased from all files.
 
 EXAMPLES
 --------
diff --git a/credential-store.c b/credential-store.c
index c519f8025e..d62dc29d06 100644
--- a/credential-store.c
+++ b/credential-store.c
@@ -165,11 +165,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		usage_with_options(usage, options);
 	op = argv[0];
 
-	if (!file)
-		file = expand_user_path("~/.git-credentials");
-	if (file)
+	if (file) {
 		string_list_append(&fns, file);
-	else
+	} else {
+		if ((file = expand_user_path("~/.git-credentials")))
+			string_list_append_nodup(&fns, file);
+		home_config_paths(NULL, &file, "credentials");
+		if (file)
+			string_list_append_nodup(&fns, file);
+	}
+	if (!fns.nr)
 		die("unable to set up default path; use --file");
 
 	if (credential_read(&c, stdin) < 0)