diff --git a/library/config.c b/library/config.c
index c66ad019..f1dca5e7 100644
--- a/library/config.c
+++ b/library/config.c
@@ -50,12 +50,25 @@ int ziti_load_config(ziti_config *cfg, const char* cfgstr) {
     if (!cfgstr) {
         return ZITI_INVALID_CONFIG;
     }
+    bool seems_like_json = false;
+    const char* c = cfgstr;
+    while (*cfgstr && isspace((unsigned char)*cfgstr)) {
+        c++;
+    }
+    if (strncmp(c,"{",1) == 0) {
+        seems_like_json = true;
+    }
 
     memset(cfg, 0, sizeof(*cfg));
-    int rc = parse_ziti_config(cfg, cfgstr, strlen(cfgstr));
+    int rc;
+    if(seems_like_json) {
+        rc = parse_ziti_config(cfg, cfgstr, strlen(cfgstr));
 
-    if (rc < 0) {
-        ZITI_LOG(DEBUG, "trying to load config from file[%s]", cfgstr);
+        if (rc < 0) {
+            ZITI_LOG(DEBUG, "trying to load config from file[%s]", cfgstr);
+            rc = load_config_file(cfgstr, cfg);
+        }
+    } else {
         rc = load_config_file(cfgstr, cfg);
     }