diff --git a/pelican/__init__.py b/pelican/__init__.py
index a2bdefa4..a57ecb4c 100644
--- a/pelican/__init__.py
+++ b/pelican/__init__.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from pelican.generators import (ArticlesGenerator, PagesGenerator,
 from pelican.log import init
 from pelican.settings import read_settings
 from pelican.utils import (clean_output_dir, files_changed, file_changed,
-                           NoFilesError)
+                           file_exists, NoFilesError)
 from pelican.writers import Writer
 
 __major__ = 3
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ __minor__ = 2
 __micro__ = 0
 __version__ = "{0}.{1}.{2}".format(__major__, __minor__, __micro__)
 
+DEFAULT_CONFIG_NAME = 'pelicanconf.py'
+
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -269,7 +271,11 @@ def get_config(args):
 
 def get_instance(args):
 
-    settings = read_settings(args.settings, override=get_config(args))
+    config_file = args.settings
+    if config_file is None and file_exists(DEFAULT_CONFIG_NAME):
+            config_file = DEFAULT_CONFIG_NAME
+
+    settings = read_settings(config_file, override=get_config(args))
 
     cls = settings.get('PELICAN_CLASS')
     if isinstance(cls, six.string_types):
diff --git a/pelican/utils.py b/pelican/utils.py
index 3ae88402..36d2995c 100644
--- a/pelican/utils.py
+++ b/pelican/utils.py
@@ -268,6 +268,14 @@ def copy(path, source, destination, destination_path=None, overwrite=False):
         logger.warning('skipped copy %s to %s' % (source_, destination_))
 
 
+def file_exists(path):
+    """Checks path exists and is a file
+
+    :param path: the path to be checked
+    """
+    return os.path.exists(path) and os.path.isfile(path)
+
+
 def clean_output_dir(path):
     """Remove all the files from the output directory"""