diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 222ec90c..126f4128 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -14,11 +14,12 @@ This project adheres to `Semantic Versioning <http://semver.org/>`_.
 * Added ``--max-headers`` to allow setting the max header limit.
 * Added ``--compress``.
 * Added ``https`` alias command with ``https://`` as the default scheme.
-* Fixed an exception when ``stdin`` was a closed fd.
+* Fixed an error when ``stdin`` was a closed fd.
+* Fixed an error when the config directory was not writeable.
 
 
 `1.0.3`_ (2019-08-26)
--------------------------
+---------------------
 
 * Fixed CVE-2019-10751 — the way the output filename is generated for
   ``--download`` requests without ``--output`` resulting in a redirect has
diff --git a/httpie/config.py b/httpie/config.py
index 06ce586b..57a4f731 100644
--- a/httpie/config.py
+++ b/httpie/config.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class BaseConfigDict(dict):
             if e.errno != errno.ENOENT:
                 raise
 
-    def save(self):
+    def save(self, fail_silently=False):
         self['__meta__'] = {
             'httpie': __version__
         }
@@ -65,9 +65,13 @@ class BaseConfigDict(dict):
         if self.about:
             self['__meta__']['about'] = self.about
 
-        with open(self.path, 'w') as f:
-            json.dump(self, f, indent=4, sort_keys=True, ensure_ascii=True)
-            f.write('\n')
+        try:
+            with open(self.path, 'w') as f:
+                json.dump(self, f, indent=4, sort_keys=True, ensure_ascii=True)
+                f.write('\n')
+        except IOError:
+            if not fail_silently:
+                raise
 
     def delete(self):
         try:
@@ -92,21 +96,5 @@ class Config(BaseConfigDict):
         self.update(self.DEFAULTS)
         self.directory = directory
 
-    def load(self):
-        super(Config, self).load()
-        self._migrate_implicit_content_type()
-
     def _get_path(self):
         return os.path.join(self.directory, self.name + '.json')
-
-    def _migrate_implicit_content_type(self):
-        """Migrate the removed implicit_content_type config option"""
-        try:
-            implicit_content_type = self.pop('implicit_content_type')
-        except KeyError:
-            self.save()
-        else:
-            if implicit_content_type == 'form':
-                self['default_options'].insert(0, '--form')
-            self.save()
-            self.load()
diff --git a/httpie/context.py b/httpie/context.py
index 621fdfa5..2f245378 100644
--- a/httpie/context.py
+++ b/httpie/context.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class Environment(object):
         if not hasattr(self, '_config'):
             self._config = Config(directory=self.config_dir)
             if self._config.is_new():
-                self._config.save()
+                self._config.save(fail_silently=True)
             else:
                 self._config.load()
         return self._config
diff --git a/tests/test_config.py b/tests/test_config.py
index d31ae1f3..63bb4504 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_config.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from httpie import __version__
-from utils import MockEnvironment, http
+from utils import MockEnvironment, http, HTTP_OK
 from httpie.context import Environment
 
 
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@ def test_default_options(httpbin):
     assert r.json['form'] == {"foo": "bar"}
 
 
+def test_config_dir_not_writeable(httpbin):
+    r = http(httpbin + '/get', env=MockEnvironment(
+        config_dir='/',
+        create_temp_config_dir=False,
+    ))
+    assert HTTP_OK in r
+
+
 def test_default_options_overwrite(httpbin):
     env = MockEnvironment()
     env.config['default_options'] = ['--form']
@@ -19,22 +27,6 @@ def test_default_options_overwrite(httpbin):
     assert r.json['json'] == {"foo": "bar"}
 
 
-def test_migrate_implicit_content_type():
-    config = MockEnvironment().config
-
-    config['implicit_content_type'] = 'json'
-    config.save()
-    config.load()
-    assert 'implicit_content_type' not in config
-    assert not config['default_options']
-
-    config['implicit_content_type'] = 'form'
-    config.save()
-    config.load()
-    assert 'implicit_content_type' not in config
-    assert config['default_options'] == ['--form']
-
-
 def test_current_version():
     version = Environment().config['__meta__']['httpie']
     assert version == __version__
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index aa16f906..0412791b 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ class MockEnvironment(Environment):
     stdout_isatty = True
     is_windows = False
 
-    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, create_temp_config_dir=True, **kwargs):
+        self.create_temp_config_dir = create_temp_config_dir
         if 'stdout' not in kwargs:
             kwargs['stdout'] = tempfile.TemporaryFile(
                 mode='w+b',
@@ -55,7 +56,8 @@ class MockEnvironment(Environment):
 
     @property
     def config(self):
-        if not self.config_dir.startswith(tempfile.gettempdir()):
+        if (self.create_temp_config_dir
+                and not self.config_dir.startswith(tempfile.gettempdir())):
             self.config_dir = mk_config_dir()
             self._delete_config_dir = True
         return super(MockEnvironment, self).config