diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b0c19c89..8ba7e227 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Misc
 
+- Improve error messaging when we cannot find git repo (#874)
 - Temporarily disable apk builds on alpine (#881)
 
 ## 0.5.0
diff --git a/man/man7/git-secret.7.md b/man/man7/git-secret.7.md
index 372f07aa..81f6ec65 100644
--- a/man/man7/git-secret.7.md
+++ b/man/man7/git-secret.7.md
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ And you're done!
 1. [Get their `gpg` public-key](#using-gpg). **You won't need their secret key.**
 They can export their public key for you using a command like:
 
-`gpg --armor --export their@email.com > public_key.txt`
-`# armor here makes it ascii`
+> gpg --armor --export their@email.com > public_key.txt
+> # armor here makes it ascii
  
 2. Import this key into your `gpg` keyring (in `~/.gnupg` or similar) by running `gpg --import public_key.txt`
 
diff --git a/src/commands/git_secret_hide.sh b/src/commands/git_secret_hide.sh
index 4e078f2a..7236be73 100644
--- a/src/commands/git_secret_hide.sh
+++ b/src/commands/git_secret_hide.sh
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ function hide {
       if [[ "$update_only_modified" -eq 0 ]] ||
          [[ "$fsdb_file_hash" != "$file_hash" ]]; then
 
+        # we no longer use --no-permission-warning here, for #811
         local args=( --homedir "$secrets_dir_keys" --use-agent --yes '--trust-model=always' --encrypt )
 
         # SECRETS_GPG_ARMOR is expected to be empty or '1'.
@@ -168,8 +169,6 @@ function hide {
           args+=( '--armor' )
         fi
 
-        # we no longer use --no-permission-warning here in non-verbose mode, for #811
-
         # we depend on $recipients being split on whitespace
         # shellcheck disable=SC2206
         args+=( $recipients -o "$output_path" "$input_path" )
diff --git a/src/main.sh b/src/main.sh
index a67d9d38..32d4abac 100755
--- a/src/main.sh
+++ b/src/main.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ function _check_setup {
   local is_tree
   is_tree=$(_is_inside_git_tree)
   if [[ "$is_tree" -ne 0 ]]; then
-    _abort "not in dir with git repo. Use 'git init' or 'git clone', then in repo use 'git secret init'"
+    _abort "git cannot locate repo. Perhaps use 'git init'/'git clone', then 'git secret init'"
   fi
 
   # Checking if the '.gitsecret' dir (or as set by SECRETS_DIR) is not ignored: