diff --git a/pkg/config/app_config.go b/pkg/config/app_config.go
index 0f1ef56e8abf..1fd2b51f92c8 100644
--- a/pkg/config/app_config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/app_config.go
@@ -259,18 +259,17 @@ var ConfigFilename = "config.yml"
 // stateFilePath looks for a possibly existing state file.
 // if none exist, the default path is returned and all parent directories are created.
 func stateFilePath(filename string) (string, error) {
+	exists, legacyStateFile := findConfigFile(filename)
+	if exists {
+		return legacyStateFile, nil
+	}
+
 	// looks for XDG_STATE_HOME/lazygit/filename
 	stateFile, err := xdg.SearchStateFile(filepath.Join("lazygit", filename))
 	if err == nil {
 		return stateFile, nil
 	}
 
-	exists, legacyStateFile := findConfigFile(filename)
-
-	if exists {
-		return legacyStateFile, nil
-	}
-
 	return xdg.StateFile(filepath.Join("lazygit", filename))
 }