diff --git a/wp-admin/setup-config.php b/wp-admin/setup-config.php
index 4b0b56499..00f1261f4 100644
--- a/wp-admin/setup-config.php
+++ b/wp-admin/setup-config.php
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ if ( !is_writable('../'))
 if (file_exists('../wp-config.php'))
 	wp_die("<p>The file 'wp-config.php' already exists. If you need to reset any of the configuration items in this file, please delete it first. You may try <a href='install.php'>installing now</a>.</p>");
 
-// Check if wp-config.php exists above the root directory
-if (file_exists('../../wp-config.php') && ! file_exists('../../wp-load.php'))
+// Check if wp-config.php exists above the root directory but is not part of another install
+if (file_exists('../../wp-config.php') && ! file_exists('../../wp-settings.php'))
 	wp_die("<p>The file 'wp-config.php' already exists one level above your WordPress installation. If you need to reset any of the configuration items in this file, please delete it first. You may try <a href='install.php'>installing now</a>.</p>");
 
 if (isset($_GET['step']))
diff --git a/wp-load.php b/wp-load.php
index 8e9768f8c..d38a2ca30 100644
--- a/wp-load.php
+++ b/wp-load.php
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . 'wp-config.php') ) {
 	/** The config file resides in ABSPATH */
 	require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-config.php' );
 
-} elseif ( file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-config.php' ) && ! file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-load.php' ) ) {
+} elseif ( file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-config.php' ) && ! file_exists( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-settings.php' ) ) {
 
-	/** The config file resides one level below ABSPATH */
+	/** The config file resides one level above ABSPATH but is not part of another install*/
 	require_once( dirname(ABSPATH) . '/wp-config.php' );
 
 } else {