diff --git a/src/kernel/config.c b/src/kernel/config.c
index a18fc6494..4d4a0e601 100644
--- a/src/kernel/config.c
+++ b/src/kernel/config.c
@@ -732,6 +732,17 @@ bool config_changed(int *cache_key) {
     return false;
 }
 
+static const char * valid_keys[] = {
+    "game.id",
+    "game.name",
+    "game.locale",
+    "game.verbose",
+    "game.email",
+    "game.mailcmd",
+    "game.sender",
+    NULL
+};
+
 #define MAXKEYS 16
 void config_set_from(const dictionary *d)
 {
@@ -742,6 +753,8 @@ void config_set_from(const dictionary *d)
         int k, nkeys = iniparser_getsecnkeys(d, sec);
         const char *keys[MAXKEYS];
         size_t slen = strlen(sec);
+        bool check = strcmp(sec, "game") == 0;
+
         assert(nkeys <= MAXKEYS);
         assert(slen<sizeof(key));
         memcpy(key, sec, slen);
@@ -756,6 +769,15 @@ void config_set_from(const dictionary *d)
             val = iniparser_getstring(d, keys[k], NULL);
             if (!orig) {
                 if (val) {
+                    if (check) {
+                        int i;
+                        for (i = 0; valid_keys[i]; ++i) {
+                            if (strcmp(key, valid_keys[i]) == 0) break;
+                        }
+                        if (!valid_keys[i]) {
+                            log_error("unknown key in ini-section %s: %s = %s", sec, key, val);
+                        }
+                    }
                     config_set(key, val);
                 }
             } else {
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index dd65ec9e1..1ae5368e5 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -68,8 +68,13 @@ static void load_inifile(dictionary * d)
     }
 
     lomem = iniparser_getint(d, "game:lomem", lomem) ? 1 : 0;
-
     verbosity = iniparser_getint(d, "game:verbose", 2);
+    memdebug = iniparser_getint(d, "game:memcheck", memdebug);
+#ifdef USE_CURSES
+    /* only one value in the [editor] section */
+    force_color = iniparser_getint(d, "editor:color", force_color);
+    gm_codepage = iniparser_getint(d, "editor:codepage", gm_codepage);
+#endif
 }
 
 static dictionary *parse_config(const char *filename)
@@ -89,13 +94,6 @@ static dictionary *parse_config(const char *filename)
     if (d) {
         load_inifile(d);
         config_set_from(d);
-
-        memdebug = iniparser_getint(d, "game:memcheck", memdebug);
-#ifdef USE_CURSES
-        /* only one value in the [editor] section */
-        force_color = iniparser_getint(d, "editor:color", force_color);
-        gm_codepage = iniparser_getint(d, "editor:codepage", gm_codepage);
-#endif
     }
     str = config_get("game.locales");
     make_locales(str ? str : "de,en");