diff --git a/cmd/control/config.go b/cmd/control/config.go
index a711d66e..7b21a775 100644
--- a/cmd/control/config.go
+++ b/cmd/control/config.go
@@ -165,12 +165,12 @@ func configGet(c *cli.Context) {
 
 	cfg, err := config.LoadConfig()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"err": err}).Fatal("config get: failed to load config")
 	}
 
 	val, err := cfg.Get(arg)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": cfg, "arg": arg, "val": val}).Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": cfg, "key": arg, "val": val, "err": err}).Fatal("config get: failed to retrieve value")
 	}
 
 	printYaml := false
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 03c5cf13..77f384cd 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func (c *CloudConfig) Merge(bytes []byte) error {
 func LoadConfig() (*CloudConfig, error) {
 	cfg := NewConfig()
 	if err := cfg.Reload(); err != nil {
-		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": cfg}).Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": cfg, "err": err}).Error("Failed to reload config")
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -73,12 +73,12 @@ func (c *CloudConfig) merge(values map[interface{}]interface{}) error {
 func (c *CloudConfig) readFiles() error {
 	data, err := readConfig(nil, CloudConfigFile, LocalConfigFile, PrivateConfigFile)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"err": err}).Error("Error reading config files")
 		return err
 	}
 
 	if err := c.merge(data); err != nil {
-		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": c, "data": data}).Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": c, "data": data, "err": err}).Error("Error merging config data")
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func (c *CloudConfig) readCmdline() error {
 	log.Debug("Reading config cmdline")
 	cmdLine, err := ioutil.ReadFile("/proc/cmdline")
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"err": err}).Error("Failed to read kernel params")
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ func (c *CloudConfig) readCmdline() error {
 	cmdLineObj := parseCmdline(strings.TrimSpace(string(cmdLine)))
 
 	if err := c.merge(cmdLineObj); err != nil {
-		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": c, "cmdLine": cmdLine, "data": cmdLineObj}).Panicln(err)
-		return err
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"cfg": c, "cmdLine": cmdLine, "data": cmdLineObj, "err": err}).Warn("Error adding kernel params to config")
 	}
 	return nil
 }
@@ -129,7 +128,7 @@ func Dump(private, full bool) (string, error) {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	if err := c.readGlobals(); err != nil {
+	if err := c.readCmdline(); err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
@@ -158,16 +157,10 @@ func (c *CloudConfig) amendNils() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *CloudConfig) readGlobals() error {
-	return util.ShortCircuit(
-		c.readCmdline,
-	)
-}
-
 func (c *CloudConfig) Reload() error {
 	return util.ShortCircuit(
 		c.readFiles,
-		c.readGlobals,
+		c.readCmdline,
 		c.amendNils,
 	)
 }
diff --git a/init/init.go b/init/init.go
index 43bc801a..6d4b2855 100644
--- a/init/init.go
+++ b/init/init.go
@@ -168,8 +168,10 @@ func RunInit() error {
 			}
 
 			if cfg.Rancher.Debug {
-				cfgString, _ := config.Dump(false, true)
-				if cfgString != "" {
+				cfgString, err := config.Dump(false, true)
+				if err != nil {
+					log.WithFields(log.Fields{"err": err}).Error("Error serializing config")
+				} else {
 					log.Debugf("Config: %s", cfgString)
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/util/util.go b/util/util.go
index e4482b75..6eb8e7d8 100644
--- a/util/util.go
+++ b/util/util.go
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ func RandSeq(n int) string {
 func Convert(from, to interface{}) error {
 	bytes, err := yaml.Marshal(from)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"from": from}).Panicln(err)
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{"from": from, "err": err}).Warn("Error serializing to YML")
 		return err
 	}