diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 2df29ece..2e5abe7e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 1.1.7.dev0
 
+ * Fix for traceback when "exclude_from" value is empty in configuration file.
  * When pruning, make highest verbosity level list archives kept and pruned.
  * Clarification of Python 3 pip usage in documentation.
 
diff --git a/borgmatic/borg/create.py b/borgmatic/borg/create.py
index 2696e751..5073cc57 100644
--- a/borgmatic/borg/create.py
+++ b/borgmatic/borg/create.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def _make_exclude_flags(location_config, exclude_patterns_filename=None):
     Given a location config dict with various exclude options, and a filename containing any exclude
     patterns, return the corresponding Borg flags as a tuple.
     '''
-    exclude_filenames = tuple(location_config.get('exclude_from', ())) + (
+    exclude_filenames = tuple(location_config.get('exclude_from') or ()) + (
         (exclude_patterns_filename,) if exclude_patterns_filename else ()
     )
     exclude_from_flags = tuple(
diff --git a/borgmatic/tests/unit/borg/test_create.py b/borgmatic/tests/unit/borg/test_create.py
index 6d2aa458..6f9b5a38 100644
--- a/borgmatic/tests/unit/borg/test_create.py
+++ b/borgmatic/tests/unit/borg/test_create.py
@@ -88,6 +88,16 @@ def test_make_exclude_flags_includes_both_filenames_when_patterns_given_and_excl
     assert exclude_flags == ('--exclude-from', 'excludes', '--exclude-from', '/tmp/excludes')
 
 
+def test_make_exclude_flags_considers_none_exclude_from_filenames_as_empty():
+    flexmock(module).should_receive('_write_exclude_file').and_return(None)
+
+    exclude_flags = module._make_exclude_flags(
+        location_config={'exclude_from': None},
+    )
+
+    assert exclude_flags == ()
+
+
 def test_make_exclude_flags_includes_exclude_caches_when_true_in_config():
     exclude_flags = module._make_exclude_flags(
         location_config={'exclude_caches': True},