diff --git a/util.go b/util.go
index 7904b1a..a605e62 100644
--- a/util.go
+++ b/util.go
@@ -28,6 +28,16 @@
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
 )
 
+// Denotes failing to parse configuration file.
+type ConfigParseError struct {
+	err error
+}
+
+// Returns the formatted configuration error.
+func (pe ConfigParseError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("While parsing config: %s", pe.err.Error())
+}
+
 func insensitiviseMap(m map[string]interface{}) {
 	for key, val := range m {
 		lower := strings.ToLower(key)
@@ -119,31 +129,31 @@
 	return path, nil
 }
 
-func marshallConfigReader(in io.Reader, c map[string]interface{}, configType string) {
+func marshallConfigReader(in io.Reader, c map[string]interface{}, configType string) error {
 	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
 	buf.ReadFrom(in)
 
 	switch strings.ToLower(configType) {
 	case "yaml", "yml":
 		if err := yaml.Unmarshal(buf.Bytes(), &c); err != nil {
-			jww.ERROR.Fatalf("Error parsing config: %s", err)
+			return ConfigParseError{err}
 		}
 
 	case "json":
 		if err := json.Unmarshal(buf.Bytes(), &c); err != nil {
-			jww.ERROR.Fatalf("Error parsing config: %s", err)
+			return ConfigParseError{err}
 		}
 
 	case "toml":
 		if _, err := toml.Decode(buf.String(), &c); err != nil {
-			jww.ERROR.Fatalf("Error parsing config: %s", err)
+			return ConfigParseError{err}
 		}
 
 	case "properties", "props", "prop":
 		var p *properties.Properties
 		var err error
 		if p, err = properties.Load(buf.Bytes(), properties.UTF8); err != nil {
-			jww.ERROR.Fatalf("Error parsing config: %s", err)
+			return ConfigParseError{err}
 		}
 		for _, key := range p.Keys() {
 			value, _ := p.Get(key)
@@ -152,6 +162,7 @@
 	}
 
 	insensitiviseMap(c)
+	return nil
 }
 
 func safeMul(a, b uint) uint {
diff --git a/viper.go b/viper.go
index f2c09ce..84878d5 100644
--- a/viper.go
+++ b/viper.go
@@ -738,22 +738,19 @@
 
 	v.config = make(map[string]interface{})
 
-	v.marshalReader(bytes.NewReader(file), v.config)
-	return nil
+	return v.marshalReader(bytes.NewReader(file), v.config)
 }
 
 func ReadConfig(in io.Reader) error { return v.ReadConfig(in) }
 func (v *Viper) ReadConfig(in io.Reader) error {
 	v.config = make(map[string]interface{})
-	v.marshalReader(in, v.config)
-	return nil
+	return v.marshalReader(in, v.config)
 }
 
 // func ReadBufConfig(buf *bytes.Buffer) error { return v.ReadBufConfig(buf) }
 // func (v *Viper) ReadBufConfig(buf *bytes.Buffer) error {
 // 	v.config = make(map[string]interface{})
-// 	v.marshalReader(buf, v.config)
-// 	return nil
+// 	return v.marshalReader(buf, v.config)
 // }
 
 // Attempts to get configuration from a remote source
@@ -778,9 +775,12 @@
 
 // Marshall a Reader into a map
 // Should probably be an unexported function
-func marshalReader(in io.Reader, c map[string]interface{}) { v.marshalReader(in, c) }
-func (v *Viper) marshalReader(in io.Reader, c map[string]interface{}) {
-	marshallConfigReader(in, c, v.getConfigType())
+func marshalReader(in io.Reader, c map[string]interface{}) error {
+	return v.marshalReader(in, c)
+}
+
+func (v *Viper) marshalReader(in io.Reader, c map[string]interface{}) error {
+	return marshallConfigReader(in, c, v.getConfigType())
 }
 
 func (v *Viper) insensitiviseMaps() {
@@ -813,7 +813,7 @@
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	v.marshalReader(reader, v.kvstore)
+	err = v.marshalReader(reader, v.kvstore)
 	return v.kvstore, err
 }
 
@@ -835,7 +835,7 @@
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	v.marshalReader(reader, v.kvstore)
+	err = v.marshalReader(reader, v.kvstore)
 	return v.kvstore, err
 }