diff --git a/SConscript b/SConscript
index f1daa3c..c309e1c 100644
--- a/SConscript
+++ b/SConscript
@@ -1071,6 +1071,10 @@ vars.Add('COMPILATIONDB_FILTER_FILES', 'Removes source files from the compilatio
 vars.Add('SHOW_INCLUDES', 'Show include hierarchy (for debugging).', False)
 vars.Add('ENABLE_ASAN', 'Enable address sanitization.', bool(enable_asan))
 
+if 'VARIABLES' in config:
+    for vardef in config['VARIABLES']:
+        vars.Add(*vardef)
+
 tools = ['default', 'compilation_db', 'unity_build']
 if 'TOOLS' in config:
     tools.extend(config['TOOLS'])
diff --git a/addons/gitbranch.py b/addons/gitbranch.py
index f06cdfa..f2a7bc3 100644
--- a/addons/gitbranch.py
+++ b/addons/gitbranch.py
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@ def _git_branch(env: Environment, repo_name: str, remote_url: str, git_ref: str
 def _git_tags(env: Environment, repo_name: str, remote_url: str, force_fetch: bool = False) -> 'list[str]':
     repo, origin = _clone(env, repo_name, remote_url)
     if force_fetch or env['UPDATE_REPOSITORIES']:
-        origin.fetch(tags=True)
+        try:
+            origin.fetch(tags=True)
+        except GitError:
+            env.Warn(f'Error fetching tags from {repo_name} ({remote_url})')
     return [t.name for t in repo.tags]
 
 def _make_callable(val):