diff --git a/cmd/fathom/main.go b/cmd/fathom/main.go
index aab41d7..18184ed 100644
--- a/cmd/fathom/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fathom/main.go
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ func main() {
 
 func before(c *cli.Context) error {
 	configFile := c.String("config")
-	app.config = config.Parse(configFile)
+	config.LoadEnv(configFile)
+	app.config = config.Parse()
 	app.database = datastore.New(app.config.Database)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/config/config.go b/pkg/config/config.go
index a23df8f..b288116 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -17,40 +17,37 @@ type Config struct {
 	Secret   string
 }
 
-// Parses the supplied file + environment into a Config struct
-func Parse(file string) *Config {
-	var cfg Config
-	var err error
-
-	if file != "" {
-		absfile, _ := filepath.Abs(file)
-
-		// check if file exists
-		_, err := os.Stat(absfile)
-		fileNotExists := os.IsNotExist(err)
-
-		if file == ".env" && fileNotExists {
-			log.Warnf("Missing configuration file. Using defaults.")
-		} else {
-			log.Printf("Configuration file: %s", absfile)
-		}
-
-		if fileNotExists {
-			if file != ".env" {
-				log.Fatalf("Error reading configuration. File `%s` does not exist.", file)
-			}
-		} else {
-			// read file into env values
-			err = godotenv.Load(absfile)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Fatalf("Error parsing configuration file: %s", err)
-			}
-		}
-
+// LoadEnv loads env values from the supplied file
+func LoadEnv(file string) {
+	if file == "" {
+		log.Warn("Missing configuration file. Using defaults.")
+		return
 	}
 
+	absFile, _ := filepath.Abs(file)
+	_, err := os.Stat(absFile)
+	fileNotExists := os.IsNotExist(err)
+
+	if fileNotExists {
+		log.Warnf("Error reading configuration. File `%s` does not exist.", file)
+		return
+	}
+
+	log.Printf("Configuration file: %s", absFile)
+
+	// read file into env values
+	err = godotenv.Load(absFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error parsing configuration file: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// Parse environment into a Config struct
+func Parse() *Config {
+	var cfg Config
+
 	// with config file loaded into env values, we can now parse env into our config struct
-	err = envconfig.Process("Fathom", &cfg)
+	err := envconfig.Process("Fathom", &cfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Error parsing configuration from environment: %s", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/config/config_test.go b/pkg/config/config_test.go
index 4b47bb4..6070fc8 100644
--- a/pkg/config/config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/config/config_test.go
@@ -1,30 +1,52 @@
 package config
 
 import (
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 )
 
+func TestLoadEnv(t *testing.T) {
+	before := len(os.Environ())
+	LoadEnv("")
+	LoadEnv("1230")
+	after := len(os.Environ())
+
+	if before != after {
+		t.Errorf("Expected the same number of env values")
+	}
+
+	data := []byte("FATHOM_DATABASE_DRIVER=\"sqlite3\"")
+	ioutil.WriteFile("env_values", data, 0644)
+	defer os.Remove("env_values")
+
+	LoadEnv("env_values")
+
+	got := os.Getenv("FATHOM_DATABASE_DRIVER")
+	if got != "sqlite3" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected %v, got %v", "sqlite3", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 	// empty config, should not fatal
-	cfg := Parse("")
+	cfg := Parse()
 	if cfg.Secret == "" {
 		t.Errorf("expected secret, got empty string")
 	}
 
 	secret := "my-super-secret-string"
 	os.Setenv("FATHOM_SECRET", secret)
-	cfg = Parse("")
+	cfg = Parse()
 	if cfg.Secret != secret {
 		t.Errorf("Expected %#v, got %#v", secret, cfg.Secret)
 	}
 
 	os.Setenv("FATHOM_DATABASE_DRIVER", "sqlite")
-	cfg = Parse("")
+	cfg = Parse()
 	if cfg.Database.Driver != "sqlite3" {
 		t.Errorf("expected %#v, got %#v", "sqlite3", cfg.Database.Driver)
 	}
-
 }
 
 func TestRandomString(t *testing.T) {