diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index bd4734ad..04748f8a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     "lint:js": "eslint --ext .js --ext .jsx ."
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "deepmerge": "^1.5.2",
     "7zip-bin": "^2.0.4",
     "babel-core": "^6.24.1",
     "babel-eslint": "^7.2.3",
diff --git a/src/common/config/base.json b/src/common/config/base.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96283bd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/config/base.json
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+{
+  "default": {
+    "teams": [],
+    "showTrayIcon": false,
+    "trayIconTheme": "light",
+    "minimizeToTray": false,
+    "version": 1,
+    "notifications": {
+      "flashWindow": 0
+    },
+    "showUnreadBadge": true,
+    "useSpellChecker": true,
+    "spellCheckerLocale": "en-US"
+  },
+  "1": {
+    "teams": [],
+    "showTrayIcon": false,
+    "trayIconTheme": "light",
+    "minimizeToTray": false,
+    "version": 1,
+    "notifications": {
+      "flashWindow": 0
+    },
+    "showUnreadBadge": true,
+    "useSpellChecker": true,
+    "spellCheckerLocale": "en-US"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/common/config/override.json b/src/common/config/override.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0db3279e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/config/override.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+
+}
diff --git a/src/common/settings.js b/src/common/settings.js
index e4aab48a..dbc9cf21 100644
--- a/src/common/settings.js
+++ b/src/common/settings.js
@@ -1,35 +1,37 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const fs = require('fs');
+let deepmerge = require('deepmerge').default;
+if (process.env.TEST) {
+  deepmerge = require('deepmerge'); // eslint-disable-line
+}
+
 const settingsVersion = 1;
+const baseConfig = require('./config/base.json');
+const overrideConfig = require('./config/override.json');
 
 function merge(base, target) {
   return Object.assign({}, base, target);
 }
 
+function deepMergeArray(dest) {
+  return dest;
+}
+
 function loadDefault(version, spellCheckerLocale) {
   var ver = version;
   if (version == null) {
     ver = settingsVersion;
   }
-  switch (ver) {
-  case 1:
-    return {
-      teams: [],
-      showTrayIcon: false,
-      trayIconTheme: 'light',
-      minimizeToTray: false,
-      version: 1,
-      notifications: {
-        flashWindow: 0 // 0 = flash never, 1 = only when idle (after 10 seconds), 2 = always
-      },
-      showUnreadBadge: true,
-      useSpellChecker: true,
-      spellCheckerLocale: spellCheckerLocale || 'en-US'
-    };
-  default:
-    return {};
-  }
+
+  const base = baseConfig[ver] || baseConfig.default;
+  const override = overrideConfig[ver] || {};
+
+  const defaults = deepmerge(base, override, {clone: true, arrayMerge: deepMergeArray});
+
+  return Object.assign(defaults, {
+    spellCheckerLocale: spellCheckerLocale || defaults.spellCheckerLocale || 'en-US'
+  });
 }
 
 function upgradeV0toV1(configV0) {
@@ -61,15 +63,19 @@ module.exports = {
 
   readFileSync(configFile) {
     var config = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(configFile, 'utf8'));
-    if (config.version === settingsVersion) {
+
+    // need to be able to compare 1 to '1'
+    if (config.version == settingsVersion) { // eslint-disable-line
       var defaultConfig = this.loadDefault();
       config = merge(defaultConfig, config);
     }
+
     return config;
   },
 
   writeFile(configFile, config, callback) {
-    if (config.version !== settingsVersion) {
+    // need to be able to compare 1 to '1'
+    if (config.version != settingsVersion) { // eslint-disable-line
       throw new Error('version ' + config.version + ' is not equal to ' + settingsVersion);
     }
     var data = JSON.stringify(config, null, '  ');
@@ -77,7 +83,8 @@ module.exports = {
   },
 
   writeFileSync(configFile, config) {
-    if (config.version !== settingsVersion) {
+    // need to be able to compare 1 to '1'
+    if (config.version != settingsVersion) { // eslint-disable-line
       throw new Error('version ' + config.version + ' is not equal to ' + settingsVersion);
     }
     var data = JSON.stringify(config, null, '  ');
diff --git a/src/package.json b/src/package.json
index af65f8c2..f817f732 100644
--- a/src/package.json
+++ b/src/package.json
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     "auto-launch": "^5.0.1",
     "bootstrap": "^3.3.7",
     "create-react-class": "^15.5.3",
+    "deepmerge": "^1.5.2",
     "electron-context-menu": "^0.9.0",
     "electron-devtools-installer": "^2.2.0",
     "electron-is-dev": "^0.1.2",
diff --git a/test/modules/environment.js b/test/modules/environment.js
index ffe8abc7..4fd19f02 100644
--- a/test/modules/environment.js
+++ b/test/modules/environment.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 'use strict';
+process.env.TEST = 'test';
 
 const chai = require('chai');
 chai.should();
diff --git a/test/specs/settings_test.js b/test/specs/settings_test.js
index 18cfd7de..8db72848 100644
--- a/test/specs/settings_test.js
+++ b/test/specs/settings_test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const settings = require('../../src/common/settings');
+const deepmerge = require('deepmerge');
 
 describe('common/settings.js', () => {
   it('should upgrade v0 config file', () => {
@@ -10,4 +11,14 @@ describe('common/settings.js', () => {
     config.teams[0].url.should.equal(v0Config.url);
     config.version.should.equal(settings.version);
   });
+
+  it('should loadDefault config for version 1', () => {
+    const baseConfig = require('../../src/common/config/base.json');
+    const overrideConfig = require('../../src/common/config/override.json');
+    const expectedDefaults = deepmerge(
+      baseConfig[1], overrideConfig[1] || {}, {clone: true, arrayMerge: settings.deepMergeArray}
+    );
+    const defaultConfig = settings.loadDefault();
+    defaultConfig.should.eql(expectedDefaults);
+  });
 });