diff --git a/lib/compass/commands/project_base.rb b/lib/compass/commands/project_base.rb
index f5575d2c..11f096f7 100644
--- a/lib/compass/commands/project_base.rb
+++ b/lib/compass/commands/project_base.rb
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@ require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'base')
 module Compass
   module Commands
     class ProjectBase < Base
-      attr_accessor :project_directory, :project_name, :options, :project_src_subdirectory, :project_css_subdirectory
+      attr_accessor :project_directory, :project_name, :options
 
       def initialize(working_directory, options = {})
         super(working_directory, options)
         self.project_name = determine_project_name(working_directory, options)
-        self.project_directory = determine_project_directory(working_directory, options)
+        Compass.configuration.project_path = determine_project_directory(working_directory, options)
         assert_project_directory_exists!
       end
       
@@ -37,13 +37,23 @@ module Compass
       def projectize(path)
         File.join(project_directory, separate(path))
       end
-      
+
+      def project_directory
+        Compass.configuration.project_path
+      end
+
+      def project_css_subdirectory
+        Compass.configuration.css_dir
+      end
+      def project_src_subdirectory
+        Compass.configuration.sass_dir
+      end
       # Read the configuration file for this project
       def read_project_configuration
-        config_file = projectize('src/config.rb')
-        if File.exists?(config_file)
-          contents = open(config_file) {|f| f.read}
-          eval(contents, nil, config_file)
+        if File.exists?(projectize('config.rb'))
+          Compass.configuration.parse(projectize('config.rb'))
+        elsif File.exists?(projectize('src/config.rb'))
+          Compass.configuration.parse(projectize('src/config.rb'))
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/compass/commands/update_project.rb b/lib/compass/commands/update_project.rb
index ab36e69b..ad7dc4af 100644
--- a/lib/compass/commands/update_project.rb
+++ b/lib/compass/commands/update_project.rb
@@ -56,12 +56,12 @@ module Compass
       
       # The subdirectory where the sass source is kept.
       def project_src_subdirectory
-        @project_src_subdirectory ||= options[:src_dir] || "src"
+        Compass.configuration.sass_dir ||= options[:src_dir] || "src"
       end
 
       # The subdirectory where the css output is kept.
       def project_css_subdirectory
-        @project_css_subdirectory ||= options[:css_dir] || "stylesheets"
+        Compass.configuration.css_dir ||= options[:css_dir] || "stylesheets"
       end
 
       # The directory where the project source files are located.
diff --git a/lib/compass/configuration.rb b/lib/compass/configuration.rb
index bcc60db4..04b87232 100644
--- a/lib/compass/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/compass/configuration.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ module Compass
       end
     end
 
+    def reset!
+      [:project_path, :css_dir, :sass_dir, :images_dir, :javascripts_dir].each do |attr|
+        send("#{attr}=", nil)
+      end
+    end
+
     def instance_binding
       binding
     end
diff --git a/test/command_line_test.rb b/test/command_line_test.rb
index c44a5deb..b3af8cce 100644
--- a/test/command_line_test.rb
+++ b/test/command_line_test.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ require 'timeout'
 
 class CommandLineTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   include Compass::TestCaseHelper
+
+  def teardown
+    Compass.configuration.reset!
+  end
+
   def test_basic_install
     within_tmp_directory do
       compass "basic"