diff --git a/base/fill_struct.go b/base/fill_struct.go
index 58e943024..26ea7763b 100644
--- a/base/fill_struct.go
+++ b/base/fill_struct.go
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ type ArbitrarySetter interface {
 	SetArbitrary(string, interface{}) error
 }
 
-// timeObj and ifaceObj are used for reflect.TypeOf
+// timeObj and strObj are used for reflect.TypeOf
 var timeObj time.Time
-var ifaceObj interface{}
+var strObj string
 
 // putFieldsToTargetStruct iterates over the fields in the target struct, and assigns each
 // field the value from the `fields` map. Recursively call this for an sub structures. Field
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ func putFieldsToTargetStruct(fields map[string]interface{}, target reflect.Value
 		fieldName := target.Type().Field(i).Name
 		lowerName := strings.ToLower(fieldName)
 
-		val := fields[caseMap[lowerName]]
-		if val == nil {
+		val, ok := fields[caseMap[lowerName]]
+		if !ok {
 			// Nothing to assign to this field, go to next.
 			continue
 		}
@@ -156,23 +156,37 @@ func putValueToPlace(val interface{}, place reflect.Value) error {
 		// as what's done for `pointer` below.
 		return fmt.Errorf("unknown struct %s", place.Type())
 	case reflect.Map:
+		if val == nil {
+			// If map is nil, nothing more to do.
+			return nil
+		}
 		m, ok := val.(map[string]interface{})
-		if ok {
-			place.Set(reflect.ValueOf(m))
+		if !ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("need type map, value %s", val)
+		}
+		// Special case map[string]string, convert values to strings.
+		if place.Type().Elem() == reflect.TypeOf(strObj) {
+			strmap := make(map[string]string)
+			for k, v := range m {
+				strmap[k] = fmt.Sprintf("%s", v)
+			}
+			place.Set(reflect.ValueOf(strmap))
 			return nil
 		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("need type map, value %s", val)
+		place.Set(reflect.ValueOf(m))
+		return nil
 	case reflect.Slice:
+		if val == nil {
+			// If slice is nil, nothing more to do.
+			return nil
+		}
 		slice, ok := val.([]interface{})
 		if !ok {
 			return fmt.Errorf("need type slice, value %s", val)
 		}
 		// Get size of type of the slice to deserialize.
 		size := len(slice)
-		sliceType := reflect.TypeOf(ifaceObj)
-		if size > 0 {
-			sliceType = place.Type().Elem()
-		}
+		sliceType := place.Type().Elem()
 		// Construct a new, empty slice of the same size.
 		create := reflect.MakeSlice(reflect.SliceOf(sliceType), size, size)
 		// Fill in each element.
@@ -187,6 +201,10 @@ func putValueToPlace(val interface{}, place reflect.Value) error {
 		place.Set(create)
 		return nil
 	case reflect.Ptr:
+		if val == nil {
+			// If pointer is nil, nothing more to do.
+			return nil
+		}
 		// Allocate a new pointer for the sub-component to be filled in.
 		alloc := reflect.New(place.Type().Elem())
 		place.Set(alloc)
diff --git a/base/fill_struct_test.go b/base/fill_struct_test.go
index 73563cbe9..6fb4769c1 100644
--- a/base/fill_struct_test.go
+++ b/base/fill_struct_test.go
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ type Collection struct {
 	Age  int
 	IsOn bool
 	Xpos float64
+	Ptr  *int
+	Dict map[string]string
+	List []string
 }
 
 func (c *Collection) SetArbitrary(key string, val interface{}) error {
@@ -317,3 +320,118 @@ func TestFillMetaCitations(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected: c.Keywords should expect: %s, got: %s", expect, meta.Keywords)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestFillMapStringToString(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonData := `{
+  "Dict": {
+    "cat": "meow",
+    "dog": "bark",
+    "eel": "zap"
+  }
+}`
+	data := make(map[string]interface{})
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonData), &data)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	var c Collection
+	err = FillStruct(data, &c)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if len(c.Dict) != 3 {
+		t.Error("expected 3 elements in Dict")
+	}
+	if c.Dict["cat"] != "meow" {
+		t.Error("expected: Dict[\"cat\"] == \"meow\"")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestStringSlice(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonData := `{
+  "List": ["a","b","c"]
+}`
+	data := make(map[string]interface{})
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonData), &data)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	var c Collection
+	err = FillStruct(data, &c)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if len(c.List) != 3 {
+		t.Error("expected 3 elements in List")
+	}
+	if c.List[0] != "a" {
+		t.Error("expected: List[0] == \"a\"")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNilStringSlice(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonData := `{
+  "List": null
+}`
+	data := make(map[string]interface{})
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonData), &data)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	var c Collection
+	err = FillStruct(data, &c)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if c.List != nil {
+		t.Error("expected null List")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNilMap(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonData := `{
+  "Dict": null
+}`
+	data := make(map[string]interface{})
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonData), &data)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	var c Collection
+	err = FillStruct(data, &c)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if c.Dict != nil {
+		t.Error("expected null Dict")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestNilPointer(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonData := `{
+  "Ptr": null
+}`
+	data := make(map[string]interface{})
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(jsonData), &data)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	var c Collection
+	err = FillStruct(data, &c)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	if c.Ptr != nil {
+		t.Error("expected null Ptr")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index ba863614a..773a11b1f 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	P2P      *P2P
 	Registry *Registry
 
+	Remotes *Remotes
 	CLI     *CLI
 	API     *API
 	Webapp  *Webapp
@@ -88,20 +89,6 @@ func (cfg Config) SummaryString() (summary string) {
 	return summary
 }
 
-// ReadFromFile reads a YAML configuration file from path
-func ReadFromFile(path string) (cfg *Config, err error) {
-	var data []byte
-
-	data, err = ioutil.ReadFile(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return cfg, err
-	}
-
-	cfg = &Config{}
-	err = yaml.Unmarshal(data, cfg)
-	return
-}
-
 // WriteToFile encodes a configration to YAML and writes it to path
 func (cfg Config) WriteToFile(path string) error {
 	// Never serialize the address mapping to the configuration file.
diff --git a/config/config_test.go b/config/config_test.go
index 18d81783f..7df5678f5 100644
--- a/config/config_test.go
+++ b/config/config_test.go
@@ -13,20 +13,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/sergi/go-diff/diffmatchpatch"
 )
 
-func TestReadFromFile(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := ReadFromFile("testdata/default.yaml")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("error reading config: %s", err.Error())
-		return
-	}
-
-	_, err = ReadFromFile("foobar")
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Error("expected read from bad path to error")
-		return
-	}
-}
-
 func TestWriteToFile(t *testing.T) {
 	path := filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), "config.yaml")
 	t.Log(path)
diff --git a/config/remotes.go b/config/remotes.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d16737b89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/remotes.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+// Remotes encapsulates configuration options for remotes
+type Remotes struct {
+	nameMap map[string]string
+}
+
+// SetArbitrary is for implementing the ArbitrarySetter interface defined by base/fill_struct.go
+func (r *Remotes) SetArbitrary(key string, val interface{}) (err error) {
+	if r.nameMap == nil {
+		r.nameMap = map[string]string{}
+	}
+	str, ok := val.(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid remote value: %s", val)
+	}
+	r.nameMap[key] = str
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Get retrieves an address from the name of remote
+func (r *Remotes) Get(name string) (string, bool) {
+	addr, ok := r.nameMap[name]
+	return addr, ok
+}
diff --git a/config/testdata/simple.yaml b/config/testdata/simple.yaml
index dbe09daff..72159cbbf 100755
--- a/config/testdata/simple.yaml
+++ b/config/testdata/simple.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Profile:
   updated: "2009-02-13T23:31:30Z"
 RPC: null
 Registry: null
+Remotes: null
 Render: null
 Repo: null
 Revision: 1
diff --git a/lib/config.go b/lib/config.go
index 8af623d90..a9fce1ea6 100644
--- a/lib/config.go
+++ b/lib/config.go
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@ package lib
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 
 	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
 	golog "github.com/ipfs/go-log"
 	"github.com/qri-io/ioes"
+	"github.com/qri-io/qri/base"
 	"github.com/qri-io/qri/config"
 	"github.com/qri-io/qri/config/migrate"
 )
@@ -28,21 +30,29 @@ var SaveConfig = func() error {
 
 // LoadConfig loads the global default configuration
 func LoadConfig(streams ioes.IOStreams, path string) (err error) {
-	var cfg *config.Config
-	cfg, err = config.ReadFromFile(path)
+	var data []byte
+	data, err = ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
-	if err == nil && cfg.Profile == nil {
-		err = fmt.Errorf("missing profile")
-		return
+	fields := make(map[string]interface{})
+	if err = yaml.Unmarshal(data, &fields); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
-	if err != nil {
-		err = fmt.Errorf(`couldn't read config file. error: %s, path: %s`, err.Error(), path)
-		return
+	cfg := &config.Config{}
+	if err = base.FillStruct(fields, cfg); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if cfg.Profile == nil {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("missing profile")
+		return err
 	}
 
 	// configure logging straight away
-	if cfg != nil && cfg.Logging != nil {
+	if cfg.Logging != nil {
 		for name, level := range cfg.Logging.Levels {
 			golog.SetLogLevel(name, level)
 		}