diff --git a/server/core/config.cc b/server/core/config.cc
index 22268bb9a..2021e9059 100644
--- a/server/core/config.cc
+++ b/server/core/config.cc
@@ -158,7 +158,6 @@ static char *config_get_value(MXS_CONFIG_PARAMETER *, const char *);
 static char *config_get_password(MXS_CONFIG_PARAMETER *);
 static const char* config_get_value_string(const MXS_CONFIG_PARAMETER *params, const char *name);
 static int handle_global_item(const char *, const char *);
-static void global_defaults();
 static bool check_config_objects(CONFIG_CONTEXT *context);
 static int maxscale_getline(char** dest, int* size, FILE* file);
 static bool check_first_last_char(const char* string, char expected);
@@ -831,8 +830,6 @@ config_load(const char *filename)
 {
     ss_dassert(!config_file);
 
-    global_defaults();
-
     config_file = filename;
     bool rval = config_load_and_process(filename, process_config_context);
 
@@ -855,8 +852,6 @@ bool config_reload()
             MXS_FREE(gateway.version_string);
         }
 
-        global_defaults();
-
         rval = config_load_and_process(config_file, process_config_update);
     }
     else
@@ -1737,11 +1732,7 @@ SSL_LISTENER* make_ssl_structure (CONFIG_CONTEXT *obj, bool require_cert, int *e
     return NULL;
 }
 
-/**
- * Set the defaults for the global configuration options
- */
-static void
-global_defaults()
+void config_set_global_defaults()
 {
     uint8_t mac_addr[6] = "";
     struct utsname uname_data;
@@ -1753,6 +1744,9 @@ global_defaults()
     gateway.auth_read_timeout = DEFAULT_AUTH_READ_TIMEOUT;
     gateway.auth_write_timeout = DEFAULT_AUTH_WRITE_TIMEOUT;
     gateway.skip_permission_checks = false;
+    gateway.syslog = 1;
+    gateway.maxlog = 1;
+    gateway.log_to_shm = 0;
     gateway.admin_port = DEFAULT_ADMIN_HTTP_PORT;
     gateway.admin_auth = true;
     gateway.admin_log_auth_failures = true;
diff --git a/server/core/gateway.cc b/server/core/gateway.cc
index 6ba816046..1f2acd69b 100644
--- a/server/core/gateway.cc
+++ b/server/core/gateway.cc
@@ -1248,11 +1248,6 @@ bool set_dirs(const char *basedir)
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int      rc = MAXSCALE_SHUTDOWN;
-    int      l;
-    int      i;
-    int      n;
-    int      ini_rval;
-    intptr_t thread_id;
     int      n_threads; /*< number of epoll listener threads */
     size_t   thread_stack_size;
     int      n_services;
@@ -1276,14 +1271,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     bool config_check = false;
     bool to_stdout = false;
     void   (*exitfunp[4])(void) = { mxs_log_finish, cleanup_process_datadir, write_footer, NULL };
-    MXS_CONFIG* cnf = NULL;
     int numlocks = 0;
     bool pid_file_created = false;
     Worker* worker;
 
-    *syslog_enabled = 1;
-    *maxlog_enabled = 1;
-    *log_to_shm = 0;
+    config_set_global_defaults();
+    MXS_CONFIG* cnf = config_get_global_options();
+    ss_dassert(cnf);
 
     maxscale_reset_starttime();
 
@@ -1293,12 +1287,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     snprintf(datadir, PATH_MAX, "%s", default_datadir);
     datadir[PATH_MAX] = '\0';
     file_write_header(stderr);
+
+    // Option string for getopt
+    const char accepted_opts[] = "dcf:g:l:vVs:S:?L:D:C:B:U:A:P:G:N:E:F:M:H:";
+
     /*<
      * Register functions which are called at exit.
      */
-    for (i = 0; exitfunp[i] != NULL; i++)
+    for (int i = 0; exitfunp[i] != NULL; i++)
     {
-        l = atexit(*exitfunp);
+        int l = atexit(*exitfunp);
 
         if (l != 0)
         {
@@ -1310,10 +1308,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     }
 
 #ifdef HAVE_GLIBC
-    while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, "dcf:g:l:vVs:S:?L:D:C:B:U:A:P:G:N:E:F:M:H:",
+    while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, accepted_opts,
                               long_options, &option_index)) != -1)
 #else
-    while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "dcf:g:l:vVs:S:?L:D:C:B:U:A:P:G:N:E:F:M:H:")) != -1)
+    while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, accepted_opts)) != -1)
 #endif
     {
         bool succp = true;
@@ -1719,7 +1717,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         goto return_main;
     }
 
-    for (i = 0; i < numlocks + 1; i++)
+    for (int i = 0; i < numlocks + 1; i++)
     {
         spinlock_init(&ssl_locks[i]);
     }
@@ -1865,9 +1863,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         goto return_main;
     }
 
-    cnf = config_get_global_options();
-    ss_dassert(cnf);
-
     if (!qc_setup(cnf->qc_name, cnf->qc_sql_mode, cnf->qc_args))
     {
         const char* logerr = "Failed to initialise query classifier library.";
@@ -2020,7 +2015,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
      * Start workers. We start from 1, worker 0 will be running in the main thread.
      */
     thread_stack_size = config_thread_stack_size();
-    for (i = 1; i < n_threads; i++)
+    for (int i = 1; i < n_threads; i++)
     {
         worker = Worker::get(i);
         ss_dassert(worker);
@@ -2089,7 +2084,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     /*<
      * Wait for worker threads to exit.
      */
-    for (i = 1; i < n_threads; i++)
+    for (int i = 1; i < n_threads; i++)
     {
         worker = Worker::get(i);
         ss_dassert(worker);
diff --git a/server/core/maxscale/config.h b/server/core/maxscale/config.h
index 667fa651e..9a94c7618 100644
--- a/server/core/maxscale/config.h
+++ b/server/core/maxscale/config.h
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ extern const char *config_monitor_params[];
 extern const char *config_filter_params[];
 extern const char *config_server_params[];
 
+/**
+ * Set the defaults for the global configuration options
+ */
+void config_set_global_defaults();
+
 /**
  * @brief Generate default module parameters
  *