diff --git a/core/includes/config.inc b/core/includes/config.inc
index aa7e3a8..323cd95 100644
--- a/core/includes/config.inc
+++ b/core/includes/config.inc
@@ -111,12 +111,15 @@ function config_sync() {
     return;
   }
 
-  $lock_name = __FUNCTION__;
-  if (!lock_acquire($lock_name)) {
+  if (!lock_acquire(__FUNCTION__)) {
     // Another request is synchronizing configuration. Wait for it to complete,
-    // then re-check for any remaining differences.
-    lock_wait($lock_name);
-    return config_sync();
+    // then return a negative result for UI purposes. We do not make a
+    // difference between an actual synchronization error and a failed lock,
+    // because a concurrent request synchronizing configuration is an edge-case
+    // in the first place and would mean that more than one developer or
+    // site builder attempts to do it without coordinating with others.
+    lock_wait(__FUNCTION__);
+    return FALSE;
   }
 
   try {
@@ -128,10 +131,10 @@ function config_sync() {
   catch (ConfigException $e) {
     watchdog_exception('config_sync', $e);
     config_sync_invoke_sync_error_hooks($config_changes);
-    lock_release($lock_name);
+    lock_release(__FUNCTION__);
     return FALSE;
   }
-  lock_release($lock_name);
+  lock_release(__FUNCTION__);
   return TRUE;
 }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/config/config.admin.inc b/core/modules/config/config.admin.inc
index 1169bc0..48aa5fa 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/config.admin.inc
+++ b/core/modules/config/config.admin.inc
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ function config_admin_import_form($form, &$form_state) {
 
   if (empty($config_changes)) {
     $form['no_changes'] = array(
-      '#markup' => 'There are no changes on disk to reload.'
+      '#markup' => t('There are no configuration changes.'),
     );
     return $form;
   }
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ function config_admin_import_form($form, &$form_state) {
  */
 function config_admin_import_form_submit($form, &$form_state) {
   if (config_sync()) {
-    drupal_set_message('Configuration successfully reloaded from disk.');
+    drupal_set_message(t('The configuration was imported successfully.'));
   }
   else {
-    drupal_set_message('There was an error reloading configuration from disk.', 'error');
+    drupal_set_message(t('The import failed due to an error. Any errors have been logged.'), 'error');
   }
 }