diff --git a/lib/lcovutil.pm b/lib/lcovutil.pm
index 06f60eaa..16bf6a0a 100644
--- a/lib/lcovutil.pm
+++ b/lib/lcovutil.pm
@@ -1093,6 +1093,7 @@ my %rc_common = (
              "lcov_branch_coverage"   => \$lcovutil::br_coverage,
              "ignore_errors"          => \@rc_ignore,
              "max_message_count"      => \$lcovutil::suppressAfter,
+             "message_log"            => \$lcovutil::message_log,
              'expected_message_count' => \@rc_expected_msg_counts,
              'stop_on_error'          => \$lcovutil::stop_on_error,
              'treat_warning_as_error' => \$lcovutil::treat_warning_as_error,
@@ -1305,13 +1306,22 @@ sub read_config($$)
                                   'config file inclusion loop detected: "' .
                                       join('" -> "', @include_stack) .
                                       '" -> "' . $filename . '"');
-        return 0;
+        # this line is unreachable as we can't ignore the 'usage' error
+        #   because it is generated when we parse the config-file options
+        #   but the '--ignore-errors' option isn't parsed until later, after
+        #   the GetOptions call.
+        # This could be fixed by doing some early processing on the command
+        #   line (similar to how config file options are handled) - but that
+        #   seems like overkill.  Just force the user to fix the issues.
+        return 0;    # LCOV_UNREACHABLE_LINE
     }
 
     if (!open(HANDLE, "<", $filename)) {
         lcovutil::ignorable_error($lcovutil::ERROR_USAGE,
                               "cannot read configuration file '$filename': $!");
-        return 0;    # didn't set anything
+        # similarly, this line is also unreachable for the same reasons as
+        #   described above.
+        return 0;    # didn't set anything LCOV_UNREACHABLE_LINE
     }
     $included_config_files{abs_path($filename)} = 1;
     push(@include_stack, $filename);
diff --git a/man/lcovrc.5 b/man/lcovrc.5
index 015a140a..68039979 100644
--- a/man/lcovrc.5
+++ b/man/lcovrc.5
@@ -1147,6 +1147,20 @@ This option is used by genhtml, lcov, and geninfo.
 
 .PP
 
+.BR message_log " ="
+.IR filename
+.IP
+Specify location to store error and warning messages (in addition to writing to STDERR).
+If not specified, then the default location is used.
+.br
+
+.br
+This attribute is equivalent to the
+.I \-\-msg\-log
+command line option.  The command line option takes precedence if both are specified.
+
+.PP
+
 .BR stop_on_error " = "
 .IR 0|1
 .IP
diff --git a/tests/gendiffcov/errs/msgtest.sh b/tests/gendiffcov/errs/msgtest.sh
index d3c77a6c..5fa1630e 100755
--- a/tests/gendiffcov/errs/msgtest.sh
+++ b/tests/gendiffcov/errs/msgtest.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ set +x
 
 source ../../common.tst
 
-rm -f test.cpp *.gcno *.gcda a.out *.info *.log *.json diff.txt loop*.rc markers.err*
+rm -f test.cpp *.gcno *.gcda a.out *.info *.log *.json diff.txt loop*.rc markers.err* readThis.rc testing.rc
 rm -rf select criteria annotate empty unused_src scriptErr scriptFixed epoch inconsistent highlight etc mycache cacheFail expect subset context labels sortTables
 
 clean_cover
@@ -172,6 +172,12 @@ if [ 0 != $? ] ; then
 fi
 echo lcov $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --prune --ignore usage
 $COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --prune --ignore usgae 2>&1 | tee prune_warn.log
+if [ 0 != $? ] ; then
+    echo "ERROR: lcov prune faled"
+    if [ 0 == $KEEP_GOING ] ; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
 
 echo lcov $LCOV_OPTS --capture -d . -o build.info --build-dir x/y
 $COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --capture -d . -o build.info --build-dir x/y 2>&1 | tee build_dir_err.log
@@ -207,7 +213,13 @@ fi
 
 
 echo lcov $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file noSuchFile --ignore usage
-$COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file noSuchFile --ignore usgae 2>&1 | tee err_missing.log
+$COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file noSuchFile 2>&1 | tee err_missing.log
+if [ 0 == ${PIPESTATUS[0]} ] ; then
+    echo "ERROR: didn't exit after self missing config file error"
+    if [ 0 == $KEEP_GOING ] ; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
 grep "cannot read configuration file 'noSuchFile'" err_missing.log
 if [ 0 != $? ] ; then
     echo "ERROR: missing config file message"
@@ -216,10 +228,34 @@ if [ 0 != $? ] ; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# read a config file which is there...
+echo "message_log = message_file.log" > testing.rc
+echo "config_file = testing.rc" > readThis.rc
+echo lcov $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file readThis.rc
+$COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file readThis.rc
+if [ ! == ${PIPESTATUS[0]} ] ; then
+    echo "ERROR: didn't read config file"
+    if [ 0 == $KEEP_GOING ] ; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+if [ !-f message_file.log] ; then
+    echo "ERROR: didn't honor message_log"
+    if [ 0 == $KEEP_GOING ] ; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+
 # loop in config file inclusion
 echo "config_file = loop1.rc" > loop1.rc
 echo lcov $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file loop1.rc --ignore usage
 $COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file loop1.rc --ignore usage 2>&1 | tee err_selfloop.log
+if [ 0 == ${PIPESTATUS[0]} ] ; then
+    echo "ERROR: skipped self loop error - which isn't supposed to be possible right now"
+    if [ 0 == $KEEP_GOING ] ; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
 grep "config file inclusion loop" err_selfloop.log
 if [ 0 != $? ] ; then
     echo "ERROR: missing config file message"
@@ -232,6 +268,12 @@ echo "config_file = loop3.rc" > loop2.rc
 echo 'config_file = $ENV{PWD}/loop2.rc' > loop3.rc
 echo lcov $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file loop2.rc --ignore usage
 $COVER $LCOV_TOOL $LCOV_OPTS --summary initial.info --config-file loop2.rc --ignore usage 2>&1 | tee err_loop.log
+if [ 0 == ${PIPESTATUS[0]} ] ; then
+    echo "ERROR: skipped self loop error2 - which isn't supposed to be possible"
+    if [ 0 == $KEEP_GOING ] ; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
 grep "config file inclusion loop" err_loop.log
 if [ 0 != $? ] ; then
     echo "ERROR: missing config file message"