diff --git a/lib/racecar.rb b/lib/racecar.rb
index 6c8b379e..a8883824 100644
--- a/lib/racecar.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar.rb
@@ -54,11 +54,9 @@ def self.wait_for_delivery(&block)
 
   def self.producer
     Thread.current[:racecar_producer] ||= begin
-      if config.datadog_enabled
-        require "racecar/datadog"
-      end
-      Racecar::Producer.new(config: config, logger: logger, instrumenter: instrumenter)
-    end
+                                            ConfigLoader.load!
+                                            Racecar::Producer.new(config: config, logger: logger, instrumenter: instrumenter)
+                                          end
   end
 
   def self.instrumenter
diff --git a/lib/racecar/cli.rb b/lib/racecar/cli.rb
index 84c79f99..6d376247 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/cli.rb
@@ -25,11 +25,7 @@ def initialize(args)
     def run
       $stderr.puts "=> Starting Racecar consumer #{consumer_name}..."
 
-      RailsConfigFileLoader.load! unless config.without_rails?
-
-      if File.exist?("config/racecar.rb")
-        require "./config/racecar"
-      end
+      ConfigLoader.load!
 
       # Find the consumer class by name.
       consumer_class = Kernel.const_get(consumer_name)
@@ -48,10 +44,6 @@ def run
         Racecar.logger.level = Object.const_get("Logger::#{config.log_level.upcase}")
       end
 
-      if config.datadog_enabled
-        configure_datadog
-      end
-
       $stderr.puts "=> Wrooooom!"
 
       if config.daemonize
@@ -152,16 +144,5 @@ def build_parser
         end
       end
     end
-
-    def configure_datadog
-      require_relative './datadog'
-
-      Datadog.configure do |datadog|
-        datadog.host      = config.datadog_host unless config.datadog_host.nil?
-        datadog.port      = config.datadog_port unless config.datadog_port.nil?
-        datadog.namespace = config.datadog_namespace unless config.datadog_namespace.nil?
-        datadog.tags      = config.datadog_tags unless config.datadog_tags.nil?
-      end
-    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/racecar/config_loader.rb b/lib/racecar/config_loader.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96c9ccf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/racecar/config_loader.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module Racecar
+  module ConfigLoader
+    def self.load!
+      # This loads config from ENV vars and cli args
+      config = Racecar.config
+
+      # Load generic config file
+      if File.exist?("config/racecar.rb")
+        require "./config/racecar"
+      end
+
+      # Load rails config unless explictly disabled already via env var or cli args
+      RailsConfigFileLoader.load! unless config.without_rails?
+
+      if config.datadog_enabled
+        require_relative './datadog'
+
+        Datadog.configure do |datadog|
+          datadog.host      = config.datadog_host unless config.datadog_host.nil?
+          datadog.port      = config.datadog_port unless config.datadog_port.nil?
+          datadog.namespace = config.datadog_namespace unless config.datadog_namespace.nil?
+          datadog.tags      = config.datadog_tags unless config.datadog_tags.nil?
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/racecar/ctl.rb b/lib/racecar/ctl.rb
index a45393b1..86e134b2 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/ctl.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/ctl.rb
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ def produce(args)
         raise Racecar::Error, "no message value specified"
       end
 
-      RailsConfigFileLoader.load!
+      ConfigLoader.load!
 
-      Racecar.config.validate!
+      config.validate!
 
       producer = Rdkafka::Config.new({
         "bootstrap.servers":  Racecar.config.brokers.join(","),