diff --git a/src/carica/core.clj b/src/carica/core.clj
index 88533f4..cdbdd00 100644
--- a/src/carica/core.clj
+++ b/src/carica/core.clj
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 (ns carica.core
   (:use [clojure.java.io :only [reader input-stream] :as io])
   (:require [clojure.tools.logging :as log]
+            [clojure.tools.reader :as clj-reader]
             [clojure.tools.reader.edn :as edn]
             [clojure.tools.reader.reader-types :as readers]
             [clojure.walk :as walk]))
@@ -38,6 +39,14 @@
     (merge-with merge-nested v1 v2)
     v2))
 
+(defn load-with [resource loader]
+  (try
+    (-> resource input-stream readers/input-stream-push-back-reader loader)
+    (catch Throwable t
+      (log/warn t "error reading config" resource)
+      (throw
+       (Exception. (str "error reading config " resource) t)))))
+
 (defmulti load-config
   "Load and read the config into a map of Clojure maps.  Dispatches
   based on the file extension."
@@ -50,12 +59,10 @@
          (keyword "carica"))))
 
 (defmethod load-config :carica/edn [resource]
-  (try
-    (-> resource input-stream readers/input-stream-push-back-reader edn/read)
-    (catch Throwable t
-      (log/warn t "error reading config" resource)
-      (throw
-       (Exception. (str "error reading config " resource) t)))))
+  (load-with resource edn/read))
+
+(defmethod load-config :carica/clj [resource]
+  (load-with resource clj-reader/read))
 
 (defmethod load-config :carica/json [resource]
   (with-open [s (.openStream resource)]