diff --git a/src/Composer/Factory.php b/src/Composer/Factory.php
index ad713714d..cd6662c30 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Factory.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Factory.php
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ class Factory
                 } else {
                     $message = 'Composer could not find the config file: '.$localConfig;
                 }
-                $instructions = 'To initialize a project, please create a composer.json file as described in the https://getcomposer.org/ "Getting Started" section';
+                $instructions = $fullLoad ? 'To initialize a project, please create a composer.json file as described in the https://getcomposer.org/ "Getting Started" section' : '';
                 throw new \InvalidArgumentException($message.PHP_EOL.$instructions);
             }