diff --git a/r2/r2/public/static/js/base.js b/r2/r2/public/static/js/base.js
index ea901475a..3479f5c81 100644
--- a/r2/r2/public/static/js/base.js
+++ b/r2/r2/public/static/js/base.js
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 r = window.r || {}
 
+r.setup = function(config) {
+    r.config = config
+    // Set the legacy config global
+    reddit = config
+}
+
 $(function() {
     r.login.ui.init()
     r.analytics.init()
diff --git a/r2/r2/templates/base.compact b/r2/r2/templates/base.compact
index 14a1e853a..9d47edbac 100644
--- a/r2/r2/templates/base.compact
+++ b/r2/r2/templates/base.compact
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
    from r2.lib.template_helpers import static
    from r2.lib import js
 %>
-<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_preamble, googleanalytics"/>
+<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_setup, googleanalytics"/>
 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="${c.lang}">
   <head>
     <link rel="apple-touch-icon" 
@@ -43,10 +43,8 @@
     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
     ${self.robots()}
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="${static('compact.css')}" type="text/css" media="screen" />
-    <script type="text/javascript">
-      ${js_preamble()}
-    </script> 
     ${unsafe(js.use('jquery', 'mobile'))}
+    ${js_setup()}
     ${googleanalytics('mobile')}
   </head>
   ${self.bodyHTML()}
diff --git a/r2/r2/templates/base.html b/r2/r2/templates/base.html
index c00809635..0f559cef3 100644
--- a/r2/r2/templates/base.html
+++ b/r2/r2/templates/base.html
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
    from r2.models import Link, Comment, Subreddit
    from r2.lib.tracking import UserInfo
 %>
-<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_preamble, googleanalytics"/>
+<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_setup, googleanalytics"/>
 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="${c.lang}" 
       xml:lang="${c.lang}" ${c.lang_rtl and unsafe('dir="rtl"') or ''}>
   <head>
@@ -39,15 +39,9 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=800, initial-scale=1" />
     ${self.robots()}
     
-    ##these are globals, so they should be run first
-    ##things that need are referenced by the reddit, the buttons, and
-    ##the frame should go here
-    <script type="text/javascript">
-      ${js_preamble()}
-    </script> 
-    
     ${self.stylesheet()}
     ${self.javascript()}
+    ${js_setup()}
     
     ##things here may depend on globals, or included js, so we run them last
     <script type="text/javascript">
diff --git a/r2/r2/templates/frame.compact b/r2/r2/templates/frame.compact
index 59c63ba08..120e7ced4 100644
--- a/r2/r2/templates/frame.compact
+++ b/r2/r2/templates/frame.compact
@@ -25,15 +25,13 @@
    from r2.lib.utils import query_string
    from r2.lib.filters import _force_unicode
  %>
-<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_preamble"/>
+<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_setup"/>
 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">
 <html>
   <head>
     <title>${thing.title}</title>
     ${unsafe(js.use('jquery', 'mobile'))}
-    <script type="text/javascript">
-      ${js_preamble()}
-    </script> 
+    ${js_setup()}
     <link rel="stylesheet" href="${static('compact.css')}"
           type="text/css" media="screen" />
   </head>
diff --git a/r2/r2/templates/framebuster.html b/r2/r2/templates/framebuster.html
index 37ddf4ced..0d1043ac0 100644
--- a/r2/r2/templates/framebuster.html
+++ b/r2/r2/templates/framebuster.html
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 <%namespace file="reddit.html" import="javascript"/>
-<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_preamble"/>
+<%namespace file="utils.html" import="js_setup"/>
 
 <html>
   <head>
     <title>escappit</title>
     <% from r2.lib import js %>
-    <script type="text/javascript">
-      ${js_preamble()}
-    </script>
     ${unsafe(js.use('jquery', 'reddit'))}
+    ${js_setup()}
   </head>
   <body>
     <script type="text/javascript">
diff --git a/r2/r2/templates/utils.html b/r2/r2/templates/utils.html
index 4988c56a1..426a1ac6b 100644
--- a/r2/r2/templates/utils.html
+++ b/r2/r2/templates/utils.html
@@ -374,46 +374,47 @@ ${unsafe(txt)}
 </%def>
 
 
-<%def name="js_preamble()">
-  <%
+<%def name="js_setup()">
+   <%
      from r2.lib.template_helpers import get_domain
      use_https_endpoint = request.host == g.domain or request.host.endswith("." + g.domain)
    %>
-   r = {};
-   r.config = reddit = {
-      /* is the user logged in */
-      logged: ${c.user_is_loggedin and ("'%s'" % c.user.name) or "false"},
-      /* the subreddit's name (for posts) */
-      post_site: "${c.site.name if not c.default_sr else ''}",
-      /* are we in an iframe */
-      cnameframe: ${"true" if (c.cname and not c.authorized_cname) else "false"},
-      /* this page's referer */
-      referer: "${request.referer or ""}",
-      /* the user's voting hash */
-      modhash: ${"'%s'" % c.modhash or "false"},
-      /* the current rendering style */
-      renderstyle: "${c.render_style}",
-      /* current domain */
-      cur_domain: "${get_domain(cname = c.frameless_cname, subreddit = False,
-                                no_www = True)}",
-      /* where do ajax request go? */
-      ajax_domain: "${get_domain(cname=c.authorized_cname, subreddit = False)}",
-      extension: '${c.extension}',
-      https_endpoint: '${g.https_endpoint if use_https_endpoint else ""}',
-      /* debugging? */
-      debug: ${"true" if g.debug else "false"}, 
-      vl: {},
-      sr: {},
-      status_msg: {
-        fetching: "${_('fetching title...')}",
-        submitting: "${_('submitting...')}",
-        loading: "${_('loading...')}"
-      },
-      is_fake: ${'true' if isinstance(c.site, FakeSubreddit) else 'false'},
-      tracking_domain: '${g.tracking_domain}',
-      adtracker_url: '${g.adtracker_url}',
-      clicktracker_url: '${g.clicktracker_url}'
-   };
+   <script type="text/javascript" id="config">
+     r.setup({
+        /* is the user logged in */
+        logged: ${c.user_is_loggedin and ("'%s'" % c.user.name) or "false"},
+        /* the subreddit's name (for posts) */
+        post_site: "${c.site.name if not c.default_sr else ''}",
+        /* are we in an iframe */
+        cnameframe: ${"true" if (c.cname and not c.authorized_cname) else "false"},
+        /* this page's referer */
+        referer: "${request.referer or ""}",
+        /* the user's voting hash */
+        modhash: ${"'%s'" % c.modhash or "false"},
+        /* the current rendering style */
+        renderstyle: "${c.render_style}",
+        /* current domain */
+        cur_domain: "${get_domain(cname = c.frameless_cname, subreddit = False,
+                                  no_www = True)}",
+        /* where do ajax request go? */
+        ajax_domain: "${get_domain(cname=c.authorized_cname, subreddit = False)}",
+        extension: '${c.extension}',
+        https_endpoint: '${g.https_endpoint if use_https_endpoint else ""}',
+        /* debugging? */
+        debug: ${"true" if g.debug else "false"},
+        vl: {},
+        sr: {},
+        status_msg: {
+          fetching: "${_('fetching title...')}",
+          submitting: "${_('submitting...')}",
+          loading: "${_('loading...')}"
+        },
+        is_fake: ${'true' if isinstance(c.site, FakeSubreddit) else 'false'},
+        tracking_domain: '${g.tracking_domain}',
+        adtracker_url: '${g.adtracker_url}',
+        clicktracker_url: '${g.clicktracker_url}'
+     })
+   </script>
 </%def>
 
 <%def name="googleanalytics(uitype)">
