diff --git a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
index 9eadc80244..177990776d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/cli/__init__.py
@@ -180,9 +180,11 @@ class CLI(with_metaclass(ABCMeta, object)):
             ver = deprecated[1]['version']
             display.deprecated("%s option, %s %s" % (name, why, alt), version=ver)
 
-        # warn about typing issues with configuration entries
-        for unable in C.config.UNABLE:
-            display.warning("Unable to set correct type for configuration entry: %s" % unable)
+        # Errors with configuration entries
+        if C.config.UNABLE:
+            for unable in C.config.UNABLE:
+                display.error("Unable to set correct type for configuration entry for %s: %s" % (unable, C.config.UNABLE[unable]))
+            raise AnsibleError("Invalid configuration settings")
 
     @staticmethod
     def split_vault_id(vault_id):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/config/base.yml b/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
index 020ffeb0c7..9911f72f64 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
+++ b/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
@@ -746,7 +746,7 @@ DEFAULT_LOCAL_TMP:
   type: tmppath
 DEFAULT_LOG_PATH:
   name: Ansible log file path
-  default: ''
+  default: ~
   description: File to which Ansible will log on the controller. When empty logging is disabled.
   env: [{name: ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH}]
   ini:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/config/manager.py b/lib/ansible/config/manager.py
index c0882a613d..36f8a6a3c5 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/config/manager.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/config/manager.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def ensure_type(value, value_type, origin=None):
     if value_type in ('boolean', 'bool'):
         value = boolean(value, strict=False)
 
-    elif value:
+    elif value is not None:
         if value_type in ('integer', 'int'):
             value = int(value)
 
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def find_ini_config_file():
 
 class ConfigManager(object):
 
-    UNABLE = []
+    UNABLE = {}
     DEPRECATED = []
 
     def __init__(self, conf_file=None, defs_file=None):
@@ -281,7 +281,12 @@ class ConfigManager(object):
 
     def get_config_value(self, config, cfile=None, plugin_type=None, plugin_name=None, keys=None, variables=None):
         ''' wrapper '''
-        value, _drop = self.get_config_value_and_origin(config, cfile=cfile, plugin_type=plugin_type, plugin_name=plugin_name, keys=keys, variables=variables)
+
+        try:
+            value, _drop = self.get_config_value_and_origin(config, cfile=cfile, plugin_type=plugin_type, plugin_name=plugin_name,
+                                                            keys=keys, variables=variables)
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise AnsibleError("Invalid settings supplied for %s: %s" % (config, to_native(e)))
         return value
 
     def get_config_value_and_origin(self, config, cfile=None, plugin_type=None, plugin_name=None, keys=None, variables=None):
@@ -358,11 +363,8 @@ class ConfigManager(object):
                     if plugin_type is None and isinstance(value, string_types) and (value.startswith('{{') and value.endswith('}}')):
                         return value, origin
 
-            # ensure correct type
-            try:
-                value = ensure_type(value, defs[config].get('type'), origin=origin)
-            except Exception as e:
-                self.UNABLE.append(config)
+            # ensure correct type, can raise exceptoins on mismatched types
+            value = ensure_type(value, defs[config].get('type'), origin=origin)
 
             # deal with deprecation of the setting
             if 'deprecated' in defs[config] and origin != 'default':
@@ -401,7 +403,13 @@ class ConfigManager(object):
                 raise AnsibleOptionsError("Invalid configuration definition '%s': type is %s" % (to_native(config), type(defs[config])))
 
             # get value and origin
-            value, origin = self.get_config_value_and_origin(config, configfile)
+            try:
+                value, origin = self.get_config_value_and_origin(config, configfile)
+            except Exception as e:
+                # when building constants.py we ignore invalid configs
+                # CLI takes care of warnings once 'display' is loaded
+                self.UNABLE[config] = to_text(e)
+                continue
 
             # set the constant
             self.data.update_setting(Setting(config, value, origin, defs[config].get('type', 'string')))
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index e922b506e0..3db9665423 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ for setting in config.data.get_settings():
                 pass  # not a python data structure
         except:
             pass  # not templatable
-        value = ensure_type(value, setting.name)
+
+        value = ensure_type(value, setting.type)
 
     set_constant(setting.name, value)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/display.py b/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
index 3724c81bd6..2f21646467 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
@@ -57,15 +57,15 @@ class FilterBlackList(logging.Filter):
 
 logger = None
 # TODO: make this a logging callback instead
-if C.DEFAULT_LOG_PATH:
+if getattr(C, 'DEFAULT_LOG_PATH'):
     path = C.DEFAULT_LOG_PATH
-    if (os.path.exists(path) and os.access(path, os.W_OK)) or os.access(os.path.dirname(path), os.W_OK):
+    if path and (os.path.exists(path) and os.access(path, os.W_OK)) or os.access(os.path.dirname(path), os.W_OK):
         logging.basicConfig(filename=path, level=logging.DEBUG, format='%(asctime)s %(name)s %(message)s')
         mypid = str(os.getpid())
         user = getpass.getuser()
         logger = logging.getLogger("p=%s u=%s | " % (mypid, user))
         for handler in logging.root.handlers:
-            handler.addFilter(FilterBlackList(C.DEFAULT_LOG_FILTER))
+            handler.addFilter(FilterBlackList(getattr(C, 'DEFAULT_LOG_FILTER', [])))
     else:
         print("[WARNING]: log file at %s is not writeable and we cannot create it, aborting\n" % path, file=sys.stderr)