diff --git a/spec/config-spec.coffee b/spec/config-spec.coffee
index 19026abd6..c60b88e24 100644
--- a/spec/config-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/config-spec.coffee
@@ -1060,6 +1060,9 @@ describe "Config", ->
           type: 'integer'
           default: 12
 
+        expect(atom.config.getSchema('foo.baz')).toBeUndefined()
+        expect(atom.config.getSchema('foo.bar.anInt.baz')).toBeUndefined()
+
       it "respects the schema for scoped settings", ->
         schema =
           type: 'string'
diff --git a/src/config.coffee b/src/config.coffee
index 9d51b907d..17c697930 100644
--- a/src/config.coffee
+++ b/src/config.coffee
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ class Config
     schema = @schema
     for key in keys
       break unless schema?
-      schema = schema.properties[key]
+      schema = schema.properties?[key]
     schema
 
   # Deprecated: Returns a new {Object} containing all of the global settings and