diff --git a/includes/bootstrap.inc b/includes/bootstrap.inc
index bf7991a..799e42e 100644
--- a/includes/bootstrap.inc
+++ b/includes/bootstrap.inc
@@ -827,7 +827,14 @@ function _drush_bootstrap_drupal_site() {
 function _drush_bootstrap_drupal_configuration() {
   global $conf;
 
-  drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_CONFIGURATION);
+  // If we try to bootstrap Drupal 7 with a configured but empty
+  // database, it will throw an exception.  Just continue if that
+  // happens (allow sql-conf + sql-sync to work on empty databases)
+  try {
+    drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_CONFIGURATION);
+  }
+  catch(Exception $e) {
+  }
 
   // Unset drupal error handler and restore drush's one.
   if (drush_drupal_major_version() >= 7) {