diff --git a/cake/libs/config/php_reader.php b/cake/libs/config/php_reader.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c43cbd801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cake/libs/config/php_reader.php
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * PhpReader file
+ *
+ * PHP 5
+ *
+ * CakePHP(tm) Tests <http://book.cakephp.org/view/1196/Testing>
+ * Copyright 2005-2010, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ *
+ * Licensed under The MIT License
+ * Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice
+ *
+ * @copyright     Copyright 2005-2010, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ * @link          http://book.cakephp.org/view/1196/Testing CakePHP(tm) Tests
+ * @package       cake
+ * @subpackage    cake.tests.cases.libs
+ * @since         CakePHP(tm) v 2.0
+ * @license       MIT License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
+ */
+
+/**
+ * PHP Reader allows Configure to load configuration values from 
+ * files containing simple PHP arrays.
+ *
+ * @package cake.libs.config
+ */
+class PhpReader {
+/**
+ * The path this reader finds files on.
+ *
+ * @var string
+ */
+	protected $_path = null;
+
+/**
+ * Constructor for PHP Config file reading.
+ *
+ * @param string $path The path to read config files from.  Defaults to CONFIGS
+ */
+	public function __construct($path = CONFIGS) {
+		$this->_path = $path;
+	}
+
+/**
+ * Read a config file and return its contents.
+ *
+ * Keys with `.` will be treated as values in plugins.  Instead of reading from
+ * the initialized path, plugin keys will be located using App::pluginPath().
+ *
+ *
+ * @param string $key The identifier to read from.  If the key has a . it will be treated
+ *   as a plugin prefix.
+ * @return array Parsed configuration values.
+ */
+	public function read($key) {
+		$file = $this->_path . $key . '.php';
+		if (!file_exists($file)) {
+			throw new RuntimeException(__('Could not load configuration file: ') . $file);
+		}
+		include $file;
+		if (!isset($config)) {
+			return array();
+		}
+		return $config;
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/php_reader.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/php_reader.test.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0fcbea640
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/libs/config/php_reader.test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * PhpConfigReaderTest
+ *
+ * PHP 5
+ *
+ * CakePHP(tm) Tests <http://book.cakephp.org/view/1196/Testing>
+ * Copyright 2005-2010, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ *
+ * Licensed under The MIT License
+ * Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice
+ *
+ * @copyright     Copyright 2005-2010, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
+ * @link          http://book.cakephp.org/view/1196/Testing CakePHP(tm) Tests
+ * @package       cake
+ * @subpackage    cake.tests.cases
+ * @since         CakePHP(tm) v 2.0
+ * @license       MIT License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
+ */
+App::import('Core', 'config/PhpReader');
+
+class PhpReaderTest extends CakeTestCase {
+/**
+ * setup
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	function setUp() {
+		parent::setUp();
+		$this->path = TEST_CAKE_CORE_INCLUDE_PATH . 'tests' . DS . 'test_app' . DS . 'config'. DS;
+	}
+/**
+ * test reading files
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	function testRead() {
+		$reader = new PhpReader($this->path);
+		$values = $reader->read('var_test');
+		$this->assertEquals('value', $values['Read']);
+	}
+
+/**
+ * Test an exception is thrown by reading files that don't exist.
+ *
+ * @expectedException RuntimeException
+ * @return void
+ */
+	function testReadWithNonExistantFile() {
+		$reader = new PhpReader($this->path);
+		$reader->read('fake_values');
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cake/tests/test_app/config/var_test.php b/cake/tests/test_app/config/var_test.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e0f3ae2a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cake/tests/test_app/config/var_test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+<?php
+$config = array(
+	'Read' => 'value',
+	'Deep' => array(
+		'Deeper' => array(
+			'Deepest' => 'buried'
+		)
+	)
+);
\ No newline at end of file