diff --git a/src/kernel/config.c b/src/kernel/config.c
index 1f3cd92b2..955a9d598 100644
--- a/src/kernel/config.c
+++ b/src/kernel/config.c
@@ -713,6 +713,40 @@ bool config_changed(int *cache_key) {
     return false;
 }
 
+#define MAXKEYS 16
+void config_set_from(const dictionary *d)
+{
+    int s, nsec = iniparser_getnsec(d);
+    for (s=0;s!=nsec;++s) {
+        char key[128];
+        const char *sec = iniparser_getsecname(d, s);
+        int k, nkeys = iniparser_getsecnkeys(d, sec);
+        const char *akeys[MAXKEYS];
+        const char ** keys = akeys;
+        size_t slen = strlen(sec);
+        assert(slen<sizeof(key));
+        memcpy(key, sec, slen);
+        key[slen] = ':';
+        if (nkeys>MAXKEYS) {
+            keys = malloc(sizeof(const char *) * nkeys);
+        }
+        iniparser_getseckeys(d, sec, keys);
+        for (k=0;k!=nkeys;++k) {
+            const char *val;
+            size_t klen = strlen(keys[k]);
+            assert(klen+slen+1<sizeof(key));
+            memcpy(key+slen+1, keys[k], klen+1);
+            val = iniparser_getstring(d, key, NULL);
+            if (val) {
+                config_set(key, val);
+            }
+        }
+        if (keys!=akeys) {
+            free(keys);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 void config_set(const char *key, const char *value) {
     ++config_cache_key;
     set_param(&configuration, key, value);
diff --git a/src/kernel/config.h b/src/kernel/config.h
index 096d54da4..17cf53a15 100644
--- a/src/kernel/config.h
+++ b/src/kernel/config.h
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ struct param;
     void free_params(struct param **pp);
 
     void config_set(const char *key, const char *value);
+    void config_set_from(const struct _dictionary_ *d);
     const char *config_get(const char *key);
     int config_get_int(const char *key, int def);
     double config_get_flt(const char *key, double def);
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 2d81041ec..97c84dffe 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ static void parse_config(const char *filename)
     if (d) {
         load_inifile(d);
         log_debug("reading from configuration file %s\n", filename);
+        config_set_from(d);
 
         memdebug = iniparser_getint(d, "game:memcheck", memdebug);
 #ifdef USE_CURSES