diff --git a/cake/libs/config/ini_reader.php b/cake/libs/config/ini_reader.php
index 915bf9498e0..e20f8dcfb56 100644
--- a/cake/libs/config/ini_reader.php
+++ b/cake/libs/config/ini_reader.php
@@ -77,7 +77,12 @@ public function read($file) {
 		} else {
 			$values = array();
 			foreach ($contents as $section => $attribs) {
-				$values[$section] = $this->_parseNestedValues($attribs);
+				if (is_array($attribs)) {
+					$values[$section] = $this->_parseNestedValues($attribs);
+				} else {
+					$parse = $this->_parseNestedValues(array($attribs));
+					$values[$section] = array_shift($parse);
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		return $values;
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/ini_reader.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/ini_reader.test.php
index 2fb8eb2dd00..3db8bb94232 100644
--- a/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/ini_reader.test.php
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/ini_reader.test.php
@@ -64,6 +64,22 @@ function testReadingOnlyOneSection() {
 		$this->assertEquals('administrators', $config['groups']);
 	}
 
+/**
+ * test without section
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testReadingWithoutSection() {
+		$reader = new IniReader($this->path);
+		$config = $reader->read('no_section.ini');
+
+		$expected = array(
+			'some_key' => 'some_value',
+			'bool_key' => true
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals($config, $expected);
+	}
+
 /**
  * test that names with .'s get exploded into arrays.
  *
diff --git a/cake/tests/test_app/config/no_section.ini b/cake/tests/test_app/config/no_section.ini
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6e6fbb7a04d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cake/tests/test_app/config/no_section.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+some_key = some_value
+bool_key = 1