diff --git a/src/milla/util.py b/src/milla/util.py
index 379ab4c..db0c4a6 100644
--- a/src/milla/util.py
+++ b/src/milla/util.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def http_date(date):
     return format_date_time(stamp)
 
 
-def read_config(filename):
+def read_config(filename, defaults=None):
     '''Parse an ini file into a nested dictionary
 
     :param string filename: Path to the ini file to read
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ def read_config(filename):
     with open(filename) as f:
         # ConfigParser API changed in Python 3.2
         if hasattr(configparser.ConfigParser, 'read_file'):
-            cparser = configparser.ConfigParser()
+            cparser = configparser.ConfigParser(defaults)
             cparser.read_file(f)
         else:
-            cparser = configparser.SafeConfigParser()
+            cparser = configparser.SafeConfigParser(defaults)
             cparser.readfp(f)
 
     config = {}