diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/ConfigRegistry.java b/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/ConfigRegistry.java
index 18fba4f50..b5f8faeb0 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/ConfigRegistry.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/ConfigRegistry.java
@@ -67,6 +67,26 @@ import com.threerings.presents.dobj.SetListener;
 */
 public abstract class ConfigRegistry
 {
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a ConfigRegistry that isn't transitioning.
+     */
+    public ConfigRegistry ()
+    {
+        this(false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a ConfigRegistry.
+     * 
+     * @param transitioning if true, serialized Streamable instances stored in the registry will
+     * be written back out immediately to allow them to be transitioned to new class names.
+     */
+    public ConfigRegistry (boolean transitioning)
+    {
+        _transitioning = transitioning;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Registers the supplied configuration object with the system.
      *
@@ -286,7 +306,13 @@ public abstract class ConfigRegistry
                         ByteArrayInputStream bin =
                             new ByteArrayInputStream(StringUtil.unhexlate(value));
                         ObjectInputStream oin = createObjectInputStream(bin);
-                        field.set(object, oin.readObject());
+                        Object deserializedValue = oin.readObject();
+                        field.set(object, deserializedValue);
+                        if (_transitioning) {
+                            // Use serialize rather than serializeAttribute so we don't get 
+                            // ObjectAccessExceptions
+                            serialize(key, nameToKey(key), deserializedValue);
+                        }
                     } catch (Exception e) {
                         Log.warning("Failure decoding config value [type=" + type +
                                     ", field=" + field + ", exception=" + e + "].");
@@ -378,4 +404,7 @@ public abstract class ConfigRegistry
 
     /** A mapping from identifying key to config object. */
     protected HashMap<String,ObjectRecord> _configs = new HashMap<String,ObjectRecord>();
+    
+    /** If we need to transition serialized Streamables to a new class format in init.. */
+    protected boolean _transitioning;
 }
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/DatabaseConfigRegistry.java b/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/DatabaseConfigRegistry.java
index 5da08a269..843706d3a 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/DatabaseConfigRegistry.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/DatabaseConfigRegistry.java
@@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ public class DatabaseConfigRegistry extends ConfigRegistry
             boolean transitioning)
         throws PersistenceException
     {
+        super(transitioning);
         _repo = new ConfigRepository(ctx);
         _invoker = invoker;
         _node = StringUtil.isBlank(node) ? "" : node;
-        _transitioning = transitioning;
     }
 
     @Override // from ConfigRegistry
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ public class DatabaseConfigRegistry extends ConfigRegistry
             _path = path;
         }
 
+        @Override
         public void init ()
         {
             // load up our persistent data synchronously because we should be in the middle of
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ public class DatabaseConfigRegistry extends ConfigRegistry
             // be completely initialized when we return from this call so that subsequent systems
             // can predictably make use of the configuration information that we load
             try {
-                _data = _repo.loadConfig(_node, _path, _transitioning);
+                _data = _repo.loadConfig(_node, _path);
             } catch (PersistenceException pe) {
                 Log.warning("Failed to load object configuration [path=" + _path + "].");
                 Log.logStackTrace(pe);
@@ -305,7 +306,6 @@ public class DatabaseConfigRegistry extends ConfigRegistry
         protected HashMap<String,String> _data;
     }
 
-    protected boolean _transitioning;
     protected ConfigRepository _repo;
     protected Invoker _invoker;
     protected String _node;
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/persist/ConfigRepository.java b/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/persist/ConfigRepository.java
index 1dead891e..1a5e87ad0 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/persist/ConfigRepository.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/admin/server/persist/ConfigRepository.java
@@ -46,21 +46,15 @@ public class ConfigRepository extends DepotRepository
     /**
      * Loads up the configuration data for the specified object.
      * 
-     * @param transitioning - if true, the read in value will be written out again immediately to
-     * transition the stored data to a new format
-     * 
      * @return a map containing field/value pairs for all stored configuration data.
      */
-    public HashMap<String,String> loadConfig (String node, String object, boolean transitioning)
+    public HashMap<String,String> loadConfig (String node, String object)
         throws PersistenceException
     {
         HashMap<String, String> data = new HashMap<String, String>();
         Where where = new Where(ConfigRecord.OBJECT_C, object, ConfigRecord.NODE_C, node);
         for (ConfigRecord record : findAll(ConfigRecord.class, where)) {
             data.put(record.field, record.value);
-            if (transitioning) {
-                updateConfig(node, object, record.field, record.value);
-            }
         }
         return data;
     }
@@ -79,6 +73,4 @@ public class ConfigRepository extends DepotRepository
     {
         classes.add(ConfigRecord.class);
     }
-    
-    protected boolean _transitioning;
 }