diff --git a/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/ConfigFactory.java b/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/ConfigFactory.java
index 685c2602..69b59f14 100644
--- a/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/ConfigFactory.java
+++ b/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/ConfigFactory.java
@@ -166,6 +166,10 @@ public final class ConfigFactory {
     }
 
     private static Config loadDefaultConfig(ClassLoader loader) {
+      return loadDefaultConfig(loader, ConfigParseOptions.defaults().setClassLoader(loader));
+    }
+
+    private static Config loadDefaultConfig(ClassLoader loader, ConfigParseOptions parseOptions) {
         int specified = 0;
 
         // override application.conf with config.file, config.resource,
@@ -181,7 +185,7 @@ public final class ConfigFactory {
             specified += 1;
 
         if (specified == 0) {
-            return load(loader, "application");
+            return load(loader, "application", parseOptions, ConfigResolveOptions.defaults());
         } else if (specified > 1) {
             throw new ConfigException.Generic("You set more than one of config.file='" + file
                     + "', config.url='" + url + "', config.resource='" + resource
@@ -192,18 +196,16 @@ public final class ConfigFactory {
                     resource = resource.substring(1);
                 // this deliberately does not parseResourcesAnySyntax; if
                 // people want that they can use an include statement.
-                return load(loader, parseResources(loader, resource));
+                return load(loader, parseResources(loader, resource, parseOptions));
             } else if (file != null) {
                 return load(
                         loader,
-                        parseFile(new File(file),
-                                ConfigParseOptions.defaults().setClassLoader(loader)));
+                        parseFile(new File(file), parseOptions));
             } else {
                 try {
                     return load(
                             loader,
-                            parseURL(new URL(url),
-                                    ConfigParseOptions.defaults().setClassLoader(loader)));
+                            parseURL(new URL(url), parseOptions));
                 } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
                     throw new ConfigException.Generic("Bad URL in config.url system property: '"
                             + url + "': " + e.getMessage(), e);
@@ -243,6 +245,17 @@ public final class ConfigFactory {
         return load(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Like {@link #load()} but allows specifying parse options
+     *
+     * @param parseOptions
+     *            Options for parsing resources
+     * @return configuration for an application
+     */
+    public static Config load(ConfigParseOptions parseOptions) {
+        return load(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader(), parseOptions);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Like {@link #load()} but allows specifying a class loader other than the
      * thread's current context class loader.
@@ -260,6 +273,25 @@ public final class ConfigFactory {
         });
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Like {@link #load()} but allows specifying a class loader other than the
+     * thread's current context class loader, and parse options
+     *
+     * @param loader
+     *            class loader for finding resources
+     * @param parseOptions
+      *            Options for parsing resources
+     * @return configuration for an application
+     */
+    public static Config load(final ClassLoader loader, final ConfigParseOptions parseOptions) {
+        return ConfigImpl.computeCachedConfig(loader, "load", new Callable<Config>() {
+            @Override
+            public Config call() {
+                return loadDefaultConfig(loader, parseOptions);
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     /**
      * Obtains the default reference configuration, which is currently created
      * by merging all resources "reference.conf" found on the classpath and
@@ -575,16 +607,16 @@ public final class ConfigFactory {
     /**
      * Parses all resources on the classpath with the given name and merges them
      * into a single <code>Config</code>.
-     * 
+     *
      * <p>
      * This works like {@link java.lang.ClassLoader#getResource}, not like
      * {@link java.lang.Class#getResource}, so the name never begins with a
      * slash.
-     * 
+     *
      * <p>
      * See {@link #parseResources(Class,String,ConfigParseOptions)} for full
      * details.
-     * 
+     *
      * @param loader
      *            will be used to load resources by setting this loader on the
      *            provided options
diff --git a/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/PublicApiTest.scala b/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/PublicApiTest.scala
index 205c5a07..81008f94 100644
--- a/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/PublicApiTest.scala
+++ b/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/PublicApiTest.scala
@@ -826,4 +826,22 @@ class PublicApiTest extends TestUtils {
 
         assertTrue("wrong exception: " + e.getMessage, e.getMessage.contains("include statements nested"))
     }
+
+    @Test
+    def missingConfFails() {
+        val old = System.getProperty("config.resource")
+        System.setProperty("config.resource", "donotexists.conf")
+        intercept[ConfigException.IO] {
+          ConfigFactory.load(ConfigParseOptions.defaults().setAllowMissing(false))
+        }
+
+        // cleanup properties
+        Option(old).map{ v =>
+          System.setProperty("config.resource", v)
+          v
+        }.orElse{
+          System.clearProperty("config.resource")
+          None
+        }
+    }
 }