diff --git a/config/types.go b/config/types.go
index 5703c84117196..3acf3d1d6019e 100644
--- a/config/types.go
+++ b/config/types.go
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@ type Size int64
 type Number float64
 
 // UnmarshalTOML parses the duration from the TOML config file
-func (d Duration) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
+func (d *Duration) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
 	var err error
 	b = bytes.Trim(b, `'`)
 
 	// see if we can directly convert it
 	dur, err := time.ParseDuration(string(b))
 	if err == nil {
-		d = Duration(dur)
+		*d = Duration(dur)
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (d Duration) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
 	if uq, err := strconv.Unquote(string(b)); err == nil && len(uq) > 0 {
 		dur, err := time.ParseDuration(uq)
 		if err == nil {
-			d = Duration(dur)
+			*d = Duration(dur)
 			return nil
 		}
 	}
@@ -42,27 +42,27 @@ func (d Duration) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
 	sI, err := strconv.ParseInt(string(b), 10, 64)
 	if err == nil {
 		dur := time.Second * time.Duration(sI)
-		d = Duration(dur)
+		*d = Duration(dur)
 		return nil
 	}
 	// Second try parsing as float seconds
 	sF, err := strconv.ParseFloat(string(b), 64)
 	if err == nil {
 		dur := time.Second * time.Duration(sF)
-		d = Duration(dur)
+		*d = Duration(dur)
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (s Size) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
+func (s *Size) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
 	var err error
 	b = bytes.Trim(b, `'`)
 
 	val, err := strconv.ParseInt(string(b), 10, 64)
 	if err == nil {
-		s = Size(val)
+		*s = Size(val)
 		return nil
 	}
 	uq, err := strconv.Unquote(string(b))
@@ -73,16 +73,16 @@ func (s Size) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	s = Size(val)
+	*s = Size(val)
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (n Number) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
+func (n *Number) UnmarshalTOML(b []byte) error {
 	value, err := strconv.ParseFloat(string(b), 64)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	n = Number(value)
+	*n = Number(value)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/execd/execd.go b/plugins/inputs/execd/execd.go
index cfac99bbe5880..228c38db50f76 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/execd/execd.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/execd/execd.go
@@ -41,10 +41,10 @@ const sampleConfig = `
 `
 
 type Execd struct {
-	Command      []string
-	Signal       string
-	RestartDelay config.Duration
-	Log          telegraf.Logger
+	Command      []string        `toml:"command"`
+	Signal       string          `toml:"signal"`
+	RestartDelay config.Duration `toml:"restart_delay"`
+	Log          telegraf.Logger `toml:"-"`
 
 	process *process.Process
 	acc     telegraf.Accumulator
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/execd/execd_test.go b/plugins/inputs/execd/execd_test.go
index 2a26cfe56bcd6..a7be617da3a48 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/execd/execd_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/execd/execd_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,24 @@ import (
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
 )
 
+func TestSettingConfigWorks(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := `
+	[[inputs.execd]]
+		command = ["a", "b", "c"]
+		restart_delay = "1m"
+		signal = "SIGHUP"
+	`
+	conf := config.NewConfig()
+	require.NoError(t, conf.LoadConfigData([]byte(cfg)))
+
+	require.Len(t, conf.Inputs, 1)
+	inp, ok := conf.Inputs[0].Input.(*Execd)
+	require.True(t, ok)
+	require.EqualValues(t, []string{"a", "b", "c"}, inp.Command)
+	require.EqualValues(t, 1*time.Minute, inp.RestartDelay)
+	require.EqualValues(t, "SIGHUP", inp.Signal)
+}
+
 func TestExternalInputWorks(t *testing.T) {
 	influxParser, err := parsers.NewInfluxParser()
 	require.NoError(t, err)