diff --git a/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee b/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee
index 0c7459a70..c575c835a 100644
--- a/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee
@@ -1554,17 +1554,21 @@ describe "Editor", ->
         buffer.insert([0, 0], "–")
         expect(editor.find('.line:eq(0)').outerHeight()).toBe editor.find('.line:eq(1)').outerHeight()
 
-    describe "when editor.setShowInvisibles is called", ->
+    describe "when config.editor.showInvisibles is set to true", ->
       it "displays spaces as •, tabs as ▸ and newlines as ¬ when true", ->
         editor.attachToDom()
         editor.setInvisibles(rootView.getInvisibles())
         editor.setText " a line with tabs\tand spaces "
 
-        expect(editor.showInvisibles).toBeFalsy()
+        expect(config.editor.showInvisibles).toBeFalsy()
         expect(editor.renderedLines.find('.line').text()).toBe " a line with tabs  and spaces "
-        editor.setShowInvisibles(true)
+
+        config.editor.showInvisibles = true
+        config.update()
         expect(editor.renderedLines.find('.line').text()).toBe "•a line with tabs▸ and spaces•¬"
-        editor.setShowInvisibles(false)
+
+        config.editor.showInvisibles = false
+        config.update()
         expect(editor.renderedLines.find('.line').text()).toBe " a line with tabs  and spaces "
 
       it "displays newlines(¬) as their own token outside of the other tokens scope", ->
diff --git a/src/app/config.coffee b/src/app/config.coffee
index f2ae4bf4f..eeb76a8e6 100644
--- a/src/app/config.coffee
+++ b/src/app/config.coffee
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 fs = require 'fs'
 _ = require 'underscore'
+EventEmitter = require 'event-emitter'
 
 module.exports =
 class Config
@@ -8,14 +9,23 @@ class Config
     @configJsonPath = fs.join(@configDirPath, "config.json")
     @userInitScriptPath = fs.join(@configDirPath, "atom.coffee")
 
+    @core = {}
+    @editor = {}
+
   load: ->
     if fs.exists(@configJsonPath)
       userConfig = JSON.parse(fs.read(@configJsonPath))
       _.extend(this, userConfig)
     @requireUserInitScript()
 
+  update: ->
+    @trigger 'update'
+
+
   requireUserInitScript: ->
     try
       require @userInitScriptPath if fs.exists(@userInitScriptPath)
     catch error
       console.error "Failed to load `#{@userInitScriptPath}`", error.stack, error
+
+_.extend Config.prototype, EventEmitter
diff --git a/src/app/editor.coffee b/src/app/editor.coffee
index 5fdc1118d..fa3ca05e2 100644
--- a/src/app/editor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/editor.coffee
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ class Editor extends View
 
     @id = Editor.idCounter++
     @lineCache = []
+    @configure()
     @bindKeys()
     @handleEvents()
     @cursorViews = []
@@ -296,7 +297,12 @@ class Editor extends View
   scanInRange: (args...) -> @getBuffer().scanInRange(args...)
   backwardsScanInRange: (args...) -> @getBuffer().backwardsScanInRange(args...)
 
+  configure: ->
+    @setShowInvisibles(config.editor.showInvisibles ? false)
+
   handleEvents: ->
+    config.on "update.editor#{@id}", => @configure()
+
     @on 'focus', =>
       @hiddenInput.focus()
       false
@@ -658,6 +664,7 @@ class Editor extends View
     @destroyEditSessions()
 
     $(window).off ".editor#{@id}"
+    config.off ".editor#{@id}"
     rootView = @rootView()
     rootView?.off ".editor#{@id}"
     if @pane() then @pane().remove() else super