diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 990bb865..04e723f4 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
-use std::net::{IpAddr, Ipv4Addr};
+use std::{
+    net::{IpAddr, Ipv4Addr},
+    path::Path,
+};
 
 use ruma::{OwnedServerName, RoomVersionId};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
+use crate::error;
+
 mod proxy;
 
 use proxy::ProxyConfig;
@@ -153,3 +158,20 @@ fn default_turn_ttl() -> u64 {
 pub(crate) fn default_default_room_version() -> RoomVersionId {
     RoomVersionId::V10
 }
+
+/// Load the configuration from the given path
+pub(crate) async fn load<P>(path: P) -> Result<Config, error::Config>
+where
+    P: AsRef<Path>,
+{
+    use error::Config as Error;
+
+    let path = path.as_ref();
+
+    toml::from_str(
+        &tokio::fs::read_to_string(path)
+            .await
+            .map_err(|e| Error::Read(e, path.to_owned()))?,
+    )
+    .map_err(|e| Error::Parse(e, path.to_owned()))
+}
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index f6286c0e..94d9a847 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 //! Error handling facilities
 
-use std::{fmt, iter};
+use std::{fmt, iter, path::PathBuf};
 
 use thiserror::Error;
 
@@ -38,11 +38,8 @@ impl fmt::Display for DisplayWithSources<'_> {
 #[allow(missing_docs)]
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 pub(crate) enum Main {
-    #[error("failed to read configuration file")]
-    ConfigRead(#[source] std::io::Error),
-
-    #[error("failed to parse configuration")]
-    ConfigParse(#[from] toml::de::Error),
+    #[error("failed to load configuration")]
+    Config(#[from] Config),
 
     #[error("failed to initialize observability")]
     Observability(#[from] Observability),
@@ -74,3 +71,16 @@ pub(crate) enum Observability {
     #[error("tracing_flame error")]
     TracingFlame(#[from] tracing_flame::Error),
 }
+
+/// Configuration errors
+// Missing docs are allowed here since that kind of information should be
+// encoded in the error messages themselves anyway.
+#[allow(missing_docs)]
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+pub(crate) enum Config {
+    #[error("failed to read configuration file {1:?}")]
+    Read(#[source] std::io::Error, PathBuf),
+
+    #[error("failed to parse configuration file {1:?}")]
+    Parse(#[source] toml::de::Error, PathBuf),
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index e71430c4..ba1f9e29 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -106,12 +106,7 @@ async fn try_main() -> Result<(), error::Main> {
 
     let args = args::parse();
 
-    let config = toml::from_str(
-        &tokio::fs::read_to_string(&args.config)
-            .await
-            .map_err(Error::ConfigRead)?,
-    )
-    .map_err(Error::ConfigParse)?;
+    let config = config::load(&args.config).await?;
 
     let _guard = observability::init(&config);