diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a3f7ff8f9..cc92c5e1e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ checksum = "bef38d45163c2f1dde094a7dfd33ccf595c92905c8f8f4fdc18d06fb1037718a"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bstr"
-version = "0.2.16"
+version = "0.2.17"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "90682c8d613ad3373e66de8c6411e0ae2ab2571e879d2efbf73558cc66f21279"
+checksum = "ba3569f383e8f1598449f1a423e72e99569137b47740b1da11ef19af3d5c3223"
 dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
  "memchr",
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ checksum = "72feb31ffc86498dacdbd0fcebb56138e7177a8cc5cea4516031d15ae85a742e"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bytes"
-version = "1.0.1"
+version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "b700ce4376041dcd0a327fd0097c41095743c4c8af8887265942faf1100bd040"
+checksum = "c4872d67bab6358e59559027aa3b9157c53d9358c51423c17554809a8858e0f8"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cassowary"
@@ -368,6 +368,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex",
  "ropey",
  "serde",
+ "serde_json",
  "similar",
  "smallvec",
  "tendril",
@@ -514,18 +515,18 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "instant"
-version = "0.1.10"
+version = "0.1.11"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "bee0328b1209d157ef001c94dd85b4f8f64139adb0eac2659f4b08382b2f474d"
+checksum = "716d3d89f35ac6a34fd0eed635395f4c3b76fa889338a4632e5231a8684216bd"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "itoa"
-version = "0.4.7"
+version = "0.4.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "dd25036021b0de88a0aff6b850051563c6516d0bf53f8638938edbb9de732736"
+checksum = "b71991ff56294aa922b450139ee08b3bfc70982c6b2c7562771375cf73542dd4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "jsonrpc-core"
@@ -548,9 +549,9 @@ checksum = "e2abad23fbc42b3700f2f279844dc832adb2b2eb069b2df918f455c4e18cc646"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
-version = "0.2.99"
+version = "0.2.103"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a7f823d141fe0a24df1e23b4af4e3c7ba9e5966ec514ea068c93024aa7deb765"
+checksum = "dd8f7255a17a627354f321ef0055d63b898c6fb27eff628af4d1b66b7331edf6"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libloading"
@@ -564,9 +565,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
-version = "0.4.4"
+version = "0.4.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0382880606dff6d15c9476c416d18690b72742aa7b605bb6dd6ec9030fbf07eb"
+checksum = "712a4d093c9976e24e7dbca41db895dabcbac38eb5f4045393d17a95bdfb1109"
 dependencies = [
  "scopeguard",
 ]
@@ -694,9 +695,9 @@ checksum = "692fcb63b64b1758029e0a96ee63e049ce8c5948587f2f7208df04625e5f6b56"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "parking_lot"
-version = "0.11.1"
+version = "0.11.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "6d7744ac029df22dca6284efe4e898991d28e3085c706c972bcd7da4a27a15eb"
+checksum = "7d17b78036a60663b797adeaee46f5c9dfebb86948d1255007a1d6be0271ff99"
 dependencies = [
  "instant",
  "lock_api",
@@ -705,9 +706,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "parking_lot_core"
-version = "0.8.3"
+version = "0.8.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "fa7a782938e745763fe6907fc6ba86946d72f49fe7e21de074e08128a99fb018"
+checksum = "d76e8e1493bcac0d2766c42737f34458f1c8c50c0d23bcb24ea953affb273216"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "instant",
@@ -737,9 +738,9 @@ checksum = "8b870d8c151b6f2fb93e84a13146138f05d02ed11c7e7c54f8826aaaf7c9f184"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "1.0.28"
+version = "1.0.29"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "5c7ed8b8c7b886ea3ed7dde405212185f423ab44682667c8c6dd14aa1d9f6612"
+checksum = "b9f5105d4fdaab20335ca9565e106a5d9b82b6219b5ba735731124ac6711d23d"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-xid",
 ]
@@ -982,9 +983,9 @@ checksum = "d44a3643b4ff9caf57abcee9c2c621d6c03d9135e0d8b589bd9afb5992cb176a"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
-version = "1.0.74"
+version = "1.0.78"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1873d832550d4588c3dbc20f01361ab00bfe741048f71e3fecf145a7cc18b29c"
+checksum = "a4eac2e6c19f5c3abc0c229bea31ff0b9b091c7b14990e8924b92902a303a0c0"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -1042,9 +1043,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tinyvec"
-version = "1.3.1"
+version = "1.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "848a1e1181b9f6753b5e96a092749e29b11d19ede67dfbbd6c7dc7e0f49b5338"
+checksum = "f83b2a3d4d9091d0abd7eba4dc2710b1718583bd4d8992e2190720ea38f391f7"
 dependencies = [
  "tinyvec_macros",
 ]
@@ -1077,9 +1078,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-macros"
-version = "1.3.0"
+version = "1.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "54473be61f4ebe4efd09cec9bd5d16fa51d70ea0192213d754d2d500457db110"
+checksum = "154794c8f499c2619acd19e839294703e9e32e7630ef5f46ea80d4ef0fbee5eb"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
diff --git a/helix-core/Cargo.toml b/helix-core/Cargo.toml
index 34cbba9fd..510964536 100644
--- a/helix-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/helix-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ arc-swap = "1"
 regex = "1"
 
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde_json = "1.0"
 toml = "0.5"
 
 similar = "2.1"
diff --git a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
index 547b25726..9c433f3db 100644
--- a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
+++ b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@ where
         .transpose()
 }
 
+fn deserialize_lsp_config<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Option<serde_json::Value>, D::Error>
+where
+    D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+{
+    Option::<toml::Value>::deserialize(deserializer)?
+        .map(|toml| toml.try_into().map_err(serde::de::Error::custom))
+        .transpose()
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct Configuration {
     pub language: Vec<LanguageConfiguration>,
@@ -45,7 +54,9 @@ pub struct LanguageConfiguration {
     pub file_types: Vec<String>, // filename ends_with? <Gemfile, rb, etc>
     pub roots: Vec<String>,      // these indicate project roots <.git, Cargo.toml>
     pub comment_token: Option<String>,
-    pub config: Option<String>,
+
+    #[serde(default, skip_serializing, deserialize_with = "deserialize_lsp_config")]
+    pub config: Option<serde_json::Value>,
 
     #[serde(default)]
     pub auto_format: bool,
diff --git a/helix-lsp/src/lib.rs b/helix-lsp/src/lib.rs
index 35cff7548..7fa65928b 100644
--- a/helix-lsp/src/lib.rs
+++ b/helix-lsp/src/lib.rs
@@ -318,15 +318,7 @@ impl Registry {
                 let (client, incoming, initialize_notify) = Client::start(
                     &config.command,
                     &config.args,
-                    serde_json::from_str(language_config.config.as_deref().unwrap_or(""))
-                        .map_err(|e| {
-                            log::error!(
-                                "LSP Config, {}, in `languages.toml` for `{}`",
-                                e,
-                                language_config.scope()
-                            )
-                        })
-                        .ok(),
+                    language_config.config.clone(),
                     id,
                 )?;
                 self.incoming.push(UnboundedReceiverStream::new(incoming));
diff --git a/languages.toml b/languages.toml
index e7d4075c8..509100e74 100644
--- a/languages.toml
+++ b/languages.toml
@@ -6,19 +6,11 @@ file-types = ["rs"]
 roots = []
 auto-format = true
 comment-token = "//"
-config = """
-{
-  "cargo": {
-    "loadOutDirsFromCheck": true
-  },
-  "procMacro": {
-    "enable": false
-  }
-}
-"""
-
 language-server = { command = "rust-analyzer" }
 indent = { tab-width = 4, unit = "    " }
+[language.config]
+cargo = { loadOutDirsFromCheck = true }
+procMacro = { enable = false }
 
 [[language]]
 name = "toml"