diff --git a/src/util/system.cpp b/src/util/system.cpp
--- a/src/util/system.cpp
+++ b/src/util/system.cpp
@@ -865,11 +865,12 @@
     return str.substr(front, end - front + 1);
 }
 
-static std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>>
-GetConfigOptions(std::istream &stream) {
-    std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>> options;
+static bool
+GetConfigOptions(std::istream &stream, std::string &error,
+                 std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>> &options) {
     std::string str, prefix;
     std::string::size_type pos;
+    int linenr = 1;
     while (std::getline(stream, str)) {
         if ((pos = str.find('#')) != std::string::npos) {
             str = str.substr(0, pos);
@@ -879,23 +880,40 @@
         if (!str.empty()) {
             if (*str.begin() == '[' && *str.rbegin() == ']') {
                 prefix = str.substr(1, str.size() - 2) + '.';
+            } else if (*str.begin() == '-') {
+                error = strprintf(
+                    "parse error on line %i: %s, options in configuration file "
+                    "must be specified without leading -",
+                    linenr, str);
+                return false;
             } else if ((pos = str.find('=')) != std::string::npos) {
                 std::string name =
                     prefix + TrimString(str.substr(0, pos), pattern);
                 std::string value = TrimString(str.substr(pos + 1), pattern);
                 options.emplace_back(name, value);
+            } else {
+                error = strprintf("parse error on line %i: %s", linenr, str);
+                if (str.size() >= 2 && str.substr(0, 2) == "no") {
+                    error += strprintf(", if you intended to specify a negated "
+                                       "option, use %s=1 instead",
+                                       str);
+                }
+                return false;
             }
         }
+        ++linenr;
     }
-    return options;
+    return true;
 }
 
 bool ArgsManager::ReadConfigStream(std::istream &stream, std::string &error,
                                    bool ignore_invalid_keys) {
     LOCK(cs_args);
-
-    for (const std::pair<std::string, std::string> &option :
-         GetConfigOptions(stream)) {
+    std::vector<std::pair<std::string, std::string>> options;
+    if (!GetConfigOptions(stream, error, options)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    for (const std::pair<std::string, std::string> &option : options) {
         std::string strKey = std::string("-") + option.first;
         std::string strValue = option.second;
 
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
--- a/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_config_args.py
@@ -13,8 +13,32 @@
         self.setup_clean_chain = True
         self.num_nodes = 1
 
+    def test_config_file_parser(self):
+        # Assume node is stopped
+
+        inc_conf_file_path = os.path.join(
+            self.nodes[0].datadir, 'include.conf')
+        with open(os.path.join(self.nodes[0].datadir, 'bitcoin.conf'), 'a', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+            conf.write('includeconf={}\n'.format(inc_conf_file_path))
+
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+            conf.write('-dash=1\n')
+        self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(
+            expected_msg='Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 1: -dash=1, options in configuration file must be specified without leading -')
+
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+            conf.write('nono\n')
+        self.nodes[0].assert_start_raises_init_error(
+            expected_msg='Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 1: nono, if you intended to specify a negated option, use nono=1 instead')
+
+        with open(inc_conf_file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as conf:
+            conf.write('')  # clear
+
     def run_test(self):
         self.stop_node(0)
+
+        self.test_config_file_parser()
+
         # Remove the -datadir argument so it doesn't override the config file
         self.nodes[0].remove_default_args(["-datadir"])