diff --git a/data/core/common.lua b/data/core/common.lua
index bae6636a..37d30436 100644
--- a/data/core/common.lua
+++ b/data/core/common.lua
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@ function common.clamp(n, lo, hi)
 end
 
 
+function common.merge(a, b)
+  local t = {}
+  for k, v in pairs(a) do t[k] = v end
+  if b then for k, v in pairs(b) do t[k] = v end end
+  return t
+end 
+
+
 function common.round(n)
   return n >= 0 and math.floor(n + 0.5) or math.ceil(n - 0.5)
 end
diff --git a/data/core/config.lua b/data/core/config.lua
index a887d579..1233595b 100644
--- a/data/core/config.lua
+++ b/data/core/config.lua
@@ -30,10 +30,16 @@ config.borderless = false
 config.tab_close_button = true
 config.max_clicks = 3
 
--- Disable plugin loading setting to false the config entry
--- of the same name.
 config.plugins = {}
+-- Allow you to set plugin configs even if we haven't seen the plugin before.
+setmetatable(config.plugins, { 
+  __index = function(t, k) 
+    if rawget(t, k) == nil then rawset(t, k, {}) end 
+    return rawget(t, k) 
+  end 
+})
 
+-- Disable these plugins by default.
 config.plugins.trimwhitespace = false
 config.plugins.lineguide = false
 config.plugins.drawwhitespace = false
diff --git a/data/plugins/autocomplete.lua b/data/plugins/autocomplete.lua
index fde9487e..4686fdf3 100644
--- a/data/plugins/autocomplete.lua
+++ b/data/plugins/autocomplete.lua
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ local RootView = require "core.rootview"
 local DocView = require "core.docview"
 local Doc = require "core.doc"
 
-config.plugins.autocomplete = {
+config.plugins.autocomplete = common.merge({
 	-- Amount of characters that need to be written for autocomplete
 	min_len = 3,
 	-- The max amount of visible items
 	max_height = 6,
 	-- The max amount of scrollable items
 	max_suggestions = 100,
-}
+}, config.plugins.autocomplete)
 
 local autocomplete = {}
 
diff --git a/data/plugins/scale.lua b/data/plugins/scale.lua
index 616ee40b..f36b1ff3 100644
--- a/data/plugins/scale.lua
+++ b/data/plugins/scale.lua
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ local style = require "core.style"
 local RootView = require "core.rootview"
 local CommandView = require "core.commandview"
 
-config.plugins.scale = {
+config.plugins.scale = common.merge({
   mode = "code",
   use_mousewheel = true
-}
+}, config.plugins.scale)
 
 local scale_steps = 0.05