diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3d5e666..a218267 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ NOTE: PWD hooks are currently not supported for POSIX shells.
 - `$_ZO_EXCLUDE_DIRS`: list of directories separated by platform-specific
   characters ("`:`" on Linux and macOS, and "`;`" on Windows) to be excluded from
   the database
+- `$_ZO_FZF_ARGS`: extra arguments to pass to fzf, e.g. `--height 25`
 - `$_ZO_MAXAGE`: sets the maximum total rank after which entries start getting deleted
-- `$_ZO_FZF_EXTRA_ARGS`: extra arguments to pass to fzf, e.g. `--height 25`
 
 [`dirs` documentation]: https://docs.rs/dirs/latest/dirs/fn.data_local_dir.html
 
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 55988bd..733fec8 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 use crate::db::DBVersion;
 use crate::dir::Rank;
 
-use anyhow::{bail, Context, Result};
-use shlex;
+use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Context, Result};
 
 use std::env;
 use std::fs;
@@ -37,6 +36,14 @@ pub fn zo_exclude_dirs() -> Vec<PathBuf> {
     }
 }
 
+pub fn zo_fzf_args() -> Result<Vec<String>> {
+    match env::var("_ZO_FZF_ARGS") {
+        Ok(fzf_args) => shlex::split(&fzf_args).ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("could not parse _ZO_FZF_ARGS")),
+        Err(env::VarError::NotPresent) => Ok(Vec::new()),
+        Err(e) => Err(e).context("invalid Unicode in _ZO_FZF_ARGS"),
+    }
+}
+
 pub fn zo_maxage() -> Result<Rank> {
     match env::var_os("_ZO_MAXAGE") {
         Some(maxage_osstr) => match maxage_osstr.to_str() {
@@ -52,19 +59,3 @@ pub fn zo_maxage() -> Result<Rank> {
         None => Ok(1000.0),
     }
 }
-
-pub fn zo_fzf_extra_args() -> Result<Vec<String>> {
-    match env::var_os("_ZO_FZF_EXTRA_ARGS") {
-        Some(fzf_args_osstr) => match fzf_args_osstr.to_str() {
-            Some(fzf_args) => {
-                if let Some(args) = shlex::split(fzf_args) {
-                    Ok(args)
-                } else {
-                    bail!("Error parsing _ZO_FZF_EXTRA_ARGS");
-                }
-            }
-            None => bail!("invalid Unicode in _ZO_FZF_EXTRA_ARGS"),
-        },
-        None => Ok(vec![]),
-    }
-}
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index 77fd2f7..280d795 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -74,9 +74,11 @@ pub fn fzf_helper<'a, I>(now: Epoch, dirs: I) -> Result<Option<Vec<u8>>>
 where
     I: IntoIterator<Item = &'a Dir>,
 {
+    let fzf_args = config::zo_fzf_args()?;
+
     let mut fzf = Command::new("fzf")
         .args(&["-n2..", "--no-sort"])
-        .args(config::zo_fzf_extra_args()?)
+        .args(fzf_args)
         .stdin(Stdio::piped())
         .stdout(Stdio::piped())
         .spawn()