diff --git a/terminatorlib/config.py b/terminatorlib/config.py
index 1ba9fc64..fca199cd 100755
--- a/terminatorlib/config.py
+++ b/terminatorlib/config.py
@@ -411,6 +411,8 @@ class ConfigBase(Borg):
             self.layouts = {}
             for layout in DEFAULTS['layouts']:
                 self.layouts[layout] = copy(DEFAULTS['layouts'][layout])
+        if self.command_line_options is None:
+            self.command_line_options = {}
 
     def defaults_to_configspec(self):
         """Convert our tree of default values into a ConfigObj validation