diff --git a/sway/commands.c b/sway/commands.c
index ed8da3dc..b52eb200 100644
--- a/sway/commands.c
+++ b/sway/commands.c
@@ -138,10 +138,17 @@ static struct cmd_handler handlers[] = {
 	{ "input", cmd_input },
 	{ "output", cmd_output },
 	{ "seat", cmd_seat },
-	{ "set", cmd_set },
 	{ "workspace", cmd_workspace },
 };
 
+/**
+ * Commands that can *only* run in the config loading context
+ * Keep alphabetized
+ */
+static struct cmd_handler config_handlers[] = {
+	{ "set", cmd_set },
+};
+
 /**
  * Commands that can *not* run in the config loading context
  * Keep alphabetized
@@ -215,6 +222,16 @@ static struct cmd_handler *find_handler(char *line, enum cmd_status block) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if (config->reading) {
+		res = bsearch(&d, config_handlers,
+				sizeof(config_handlers) / sizeof(struct cmd_handler),
+				sizeof(struct cmd_handler), handler_compare);
+
+		if (res) {
+			return res;
+		}
+	}
+
 	res = bsearch(&d, handlers,
 			sizeof(handlers) / sizeof(struct cmd_handler),
 			sizeof(struct cmd_handler), handler_compare);
diff --git a/sway/commands/set.c b/sway/commands/set.c
index 856c73e7..84e9b792 100644
--- a/sway/commands/set.c
+++ b/sway/commands/set.c
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ void free_sway_variable(struct sway_variable *var) {
 struct cmd_results *cmd_set(int argc, char **argv) {
 	char *tmp;
 	struct cmd_results *error = NULL;
-	if (!config->reading) return cmd_results_new(CMD_FAILURE, "set", "Can only be used in config file.");
 	if ((error = checkarg(argc, "set", EXPECTED_AT_LEAST, 2))) {
 		return error;
 	}