diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5b8e02c8..e7607d27 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -327,7 +327,8 @@ It is possible to configure *umzug* instance by passing an object to the constru
   // The name of the negative method in migrations.
   downName: 'down',
 
-  // (advanced) you can pass an array of Migration instances instead of the options below
+  // This can be an object or an array of objects. Pass an array if you want to 
+  // load from different paths, or have a different resolver for different file types
   migrations: {
     // The params that gets passed to the migrations.
     // Might be an array or a synchronous function which returns an array.
@@ -352,7 +353,11 @@ It is possible to configure *umzug* instance by passing an object to the constru
     customResolver: function (sqlPath)  {
         return { up: () => sequelize.query(require('fs').readFileSync(sqlPath, 'utf8')) }
     }
-  }
+  },
+  
+  // (advanced) an array of pre-configured Migration instances. 
+  // If this is set, `options.migrations` is ignored.
+  migrationInstances: [new Migration('custom-migration.js'), {...}]
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index b2601d63..18f780e4 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ module.exports = class Umzug extends EventEmitter {
    * @param {Object} [options.storageOptions] - The options for the storage.
    * Check the available storages for further details.
    * @param {Object|Array} [options.migrations] - options for loading migration
-   * files, or (advanced) an array of Migration instances
+   * files, or an array of options
    * @param {Array} [options.migrations.params] - The params that gets passed to
    * the migrations. Might be an array or a synchronous function which returns
    * an array.
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ module.exports = class Umzug extends EventEmitter {
    * function that specifies how to get a migration object from a path. This
    * should return an object of the form { up: Function, down: Function }.
    * Without this defined, a regular javascript import will be performed.
+   * @param {Object|Array} [options.migrationInstances] - Array of `Migration`
+   * instances. This is an advanced use case that bypasses Umzug's normal migration
+   * loading logic.
    * @constructs Umzug
    */
   constructor (options = {}) {
@@ -63,17 +66,24 @@ module.exports = class Umzug extends EventEmitter {
       throw new Error('The logging-option should be either a function or false');
     }
 
-    if (!Array.isArray(this.options.migrations)) {
-      this.options.migrations = {
-        params: [],
-        path: path.resolve(process.cwd(), 'migrations'),
-        pattern: /^\d+[\w-]+\.js$/,
-        traverseDirectories: false,
-        wrap: fun => fun,
-        ...this.options.migrations,
-      };
+    if (Array.isArray(this.options.migrations)) {
+      if (this.options.migrations[0] instanceof Migration) {
+        this.options.migrationInstances = this.options.migrations;
+        this.options.migrations = [{}];
+      }
+    } else {
+      this.options.migrations = [this.options.migrations];
     }
 
+    this.options.migrations = this.options.migrations.map(migrationOptions => ({
+      params: [],
+      path: path.resolve(process.cwd(), 'migrations'),
+      pattern: /^\d+[\w-]+\.js$/,
+      traverseDirectories: false,
+      wrap: fun => fun,
+      ...migrationOptions,
+    }));
+
     this.storage = this._initStorage();
   }
 
@@ -119,7 +129,7 @@ module.exports = class Umzug extends EventEmitter {
             .tap(function (executed) {
               if (!executed || (options.method === 'down')) {
                 let fun = (migration[options.method] || Bluebird.resolve);
-                let params = self.options.migrations.params;
+                let params = migration.options.params;
 
                 if (typeof params === 'function') {
                   params = params();
@@ -444,40 +454,20 @@ module.exports = class Umzug extends EventEmitter {
    * @returns {Promise.<Migration[]>}
    * @private
    */
-  _findMigrations (migrationPath) {
-    if (Array.isArray(this.options.migrations)) {
-      return Bluebird.resolve(this.options.migrations);
-    }
-    let isRoot = !migrationPath;
-    if (isRoot) {
-      migrationPath = this.options.migrations.path;
+  _findMigrations () {
+    if (this.options.migrationInstances) {
+      return Bluebird.resolve(this.options.migrationInstances);
     }
+
     return Bluebird
-      .promisify(fs.readdir)(migrationPath)
-      .bind(this)
-      .map(function (file) {
-        let filePath = path.resolve(migrationPath, file);
-        if (this.options.migrations.traverseDirectories) {
-          if (fs.lstatSync(filePath).isDirectory()) {
-            return this._findMigrations(filePath)
-              .then(function (migrations) {
-                return migrations;
-              });
-          }
-        }
-        if (this.options.migrations.pattern.test(file)) {
-          return new Migration(filePath, this.options);
-        }
-        this.log('File: ' + file + ' does not match pattern: ' + this.options.migrations.pattern);
-        return file;
-      })
-      .reduce(function (a, b) { return a.concat(b); }, []) // flatten the result to an array
-      .filter(function (file) {
-        return file instanceof Migration; // only care about Migration
-      })
-      .then(function (migrations) {
-        if (isRoot) { // only sort if its root
-          return migrations.sort(function (a, b) {
+      .map(
+        this.options.migrations,
+        migrationOptions => this._loadMigrationGroup(migrationOptions)
+      )
+      .then(migrationGroups =>
+        migrationGroups
+          .reduce((flattened, group) => flattened.concat(group))
+          .sort(function (a, b) {
             if (a.file > b.file) {
               return 1;
             } else if (a.file < b.file) {
@@ -485,10 +475,43 @@ module.exports = class Umzug extends EventEmitter {
             } else {
               return 0;
             }
+          })
+      );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load a set of migration files from a given folder with a given config
+   *
+   * @param {Object} migrationOptions - options for this group of migrations
+   * @returns {Promise.<Migration[]>}
+   * @private
+   */
+  _loadMigrationGroup (migrationOptions) {
+    const migrationPath = migrationOptions.path;
+    return Bluebird
+      .promisify(fs.readdir)(migrationPath)
+      .map(file => {
+        let filePath = path.resolve(migrationPath, file);
+        if (migrationOptions.traverseDirectories) {
+          if (fs.lstatSync(filePath).isDirectory()) {
+            return this._loadMigrationGroup({
+              ...migrationOptions,
+              path: filePath,
+            });
+          }
+        }
+        if (migrationOptions.pattern.test(file)) {
+          return new Migration(filePath, {
+            ...migrationOptions,
+            upName: this.options.upName,
+            downName: this.options.downName,
           });
         }
-        return migrations;
-      });
+        this.log('File: ' + file + ' does not match pattern: ' + migrationOptions.pattern);
+        return file;
+      })
+      .reduce((a, b) => a.concat(b), []) // flatten the result to an array
+      .filter(file => file instanceof Migration); // only care about Migration
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/migration.js b/src/migration.js
index 2dc14df1..359c900f 100644
--- a/src/migration.js
+++ b/src/migration.js
@@ -22,10 +22,8 @@ module.exports = class Migration {
    * module.
    * @param {String} options.downName - Name of the method `down` in migration
    * module.
-   * @param {Object} options.migrations
-   * @param {Migration~wrap} options.migrations.wrap - Wrapper function for
-   * migration methods.
-   * @param {Migration~customResolver} [options.migrations.customResolver] - A
+   * @param {function} options.wrap - Wrapper function for migration methods.
+   * @param {function} options.customResolver - A
    * function that specifies how to get a migration object from a path. This
    * should return an object of the form { up: Function, down: Function }.
    * Without this defined, a regular javascript import will be performed.
@@ -46,8 +44,8 @@ module.exports = class Migration {
    * @returns {Promise.<Object>} Required migration module
    */
   migration () {
-    if (typeof this.options.migrations.customResolver === 'function') {
-      return this.options.migrations.customResolver(this.path);
+    if (typeof this.options.customResolver === 'function') {
+      return this.options.customResolver(this.path);
     }
     if (this.path.match(/\.coffee$/)) {
       // 2.x compiler registration
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ module.exports = class Migration {
       fun = migration.default[method] || migration[method];
     }
     if (!fun) throw new Error('Could not find migration method: ' + method);
-    const wrappedFun = this.options.migrations.wrap(fun);
+    const wrappedFun = this.options.wrap(fun);
 
     await wrappedFun.apply(migration, args);
   }
diff --git a/test/Umzug/constructor.test.js b/test/Umzug/constructor.test.js
index b19a52fa..cddb0420 100644
--- a/test/Umzug/constructor.test.js
+++ b/test/Umzug/constructor.test.js
@@ -55,4 +55,11 @@ describe('constructor', function () {
     umzug.log();
     expect(spy.called).to.be.true;
   });
+
+  it('converts migration options object to array', () => {
+    const umzug = new Umzug({ migrations: { traverseDirectories: true } });
+    expect(umzug.options.migrations).to.be.an.array;
+    expect(umzug.options.migrations).to.have.length(1);
+    expect(umzug.options.migrations[0].traverseDirectories).to.be.true;
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/Umzug/execute.test.js b/test/Umzug/execute.test.js
index d3f9a27c..595e8957 100644
--- a/test/Umzug/execute.test.js
+++ b/test/Umzug/execute.test.js
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ describe('execute', function () {
   });
 
   it('calls the migration with the specified params', function () {
-    this.umzug.options.migrations.params = [1, 2, 3];
+    this.umzug.options.migrations[0].params = [1, 2, 3];
 
     return this.migrate('up').then(() => {
       expect(this.upStub.getCall(0).args).to.eql([1, 2, 3]);
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ describe('execute', function () {
   });
 
   it('calls the migration with the result of the passed function', function () {
-    this.umzug.options.migrations.params = () => {
+    this.umzug.options.migrations[0].params = () => {
       return [1, 2, 3];
     };
 
diff --git a/test/Umzug/findMigrations.test.js b/test/Umzug/findMigrations.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..71ffc113
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Umzug/findMigrations.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import helper from '../helper';
+import Umzug from '../../src/index';
+import { join } from 'path';
+
+describe('_findMigrations', function () {
+  beforeEach(function () {
+    helper.clearTmp();
+    return helper.prepareMigrations(4, {
+      directories: [['one'], ['one'], ['two', '1'], ['two', '2']],
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('loads files with each config', async function () {
+    const umzug = new Umzug({
+      migrations: [
+        { path: join(__dirname, '..', 'tmp', 'one') },
+        {
+          path: join(__dirname, '..', 'tmp', 'two'),
+          pattern: /3-migration/,
+          traverseDirectories: true,
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+    const migrations = await umzug._findMigrations();
+    expect(migrations).to.have.length(3);
+    expect(migrations.map(m => m.file)).to.eql([
+      '1-migration.js',
+      '2-migration.js',
+      '3-migration.js',
+    ]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/fixtures/index.js b/test/fixtures/index.js
index 21649285..be4fe80e 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/index.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/index.js
@@ -57,22 +57,18 @@ describe('custom resolver', () => {
     await this.verifyTables();
   });
 
-  it('an array of migrations created manually can be passed in', async function () {
+  it('an array of migrations instances created manually can be passed in', async function () {
     const umzug = new Umzug({
       migrations: [
         new Migration(require.resolve('./javascript/1.users'), {
           upName: 'up',
           downName: 'down',
-          migrations: {
-            wrap: fn => () => fn(this.sequelize.getQueryInterface(), this.sequelize.constructor),
-          },
+          wrap: fn => () => fn(this.sequelize.getQueryInterface(), this.sequelize.constructor),
         }),
         new Migration(require.resolve('./javascript/2.things'), {
           upName: 'up',
           downName: 'down',
-          migrations: {
-            wrap: fn => () => fn(this.sequelize.getQueryInterface(), this.sequelize.constructor),
-          },
+          wrap: fn => () => fn(this.sequelize.getQueryInterface(), this.sequelize.constructor),
         }),
       ],
       storage: 'sequelize',