diff --git a/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml.in b/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml.in
index 0fbf9d2e9..ae4ba88fd 100644
--- a/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml.in
+++ b/man/NetworkManager.conf.xml.in
@@ -261,7 +261,13 @@ no-auto-default=*
         values are supported:</para>
         <para>
           <literal>RLIMIT_CORE</literal>: set ulimit -c unlimited
-          to write out core dumps.
+          to write out core dumps. Beware, that a core dump can contain
+          sensitive information such as passwords or configuration settings.
+        </para>
+        <para>
+          <literal>fatal-warnings</literal>: set g_log_set_always_fatal()
+          to core dump on warning messages from glib. This is equivalent
+          to the --g-fatal-warnings command line option.
         </para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 2648a08f4..520a82d8e 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -159,12 +159,24 @@ parse_state_file (const char *filename,
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
+static void
+_set_g_fatal_warnings ()
+{
+	GLogLevelFlags fatal_mask;
+
+	fatal_mask = g_log_set_always_fatal (G_LOG_FATAL_MASK);
+	fatal_mask |= G_LOG_LEVEL_WARNING | G_LOG_LEVEL_CRITICAL;
+	g_log_set_always_fatal (fatal_mask);
+}
+
 static void
 _init_nm_debug (const char *debug)
 {
 	const guint D_RLIMIT_CORE = 1;
+	const guint D_FATAL_WARNINGS = 2;
 	GDebugKey keys[] = {
 		{ "RLIMIT_CORE", D_RLIMIT_CORE },
+		{ "fatal-warnings", D_FATAL_WARNINGS },
 	};
 	guint flags = 0;
 	const char *env = getenv ("NM_DEBUG");
@@ -178,7 +190,7 @@ _init_nm_debug (const char *debug)
 	if (debug && strcasecmp (debug, "help") != 0)
 		flags |= g_parse_debug_string (debug,  keys, G_N_ELEMENTS (keys));
 
-	if (flags & D_RLIMIT_CORE) {
+	if (NM_FLAGS_HAS (flags, D_RLIMIT_CORE)) {
 		/* only enable this, if explicitly requested, because it might
 		 * expose sensitive data. */
 
@@ -188,6 +200,8 @@ _init_nm_debug (const char *debug)
 		};
 		setrlimit (RLIMIT_CORE, &limit);
 	}
+	if (NM_FLAGS_HAS (flags, D_FATAL_WARNINGS))
+		_set_g_fatal_warnings ();
 }
 
 void
@@ -270,13 +284,8 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	config_cli = nm_config_cmd_line_options_new ();
 	do_early_setup (&argc, &argv, config_cli);
 
-	if (global_opt.g_fatal_warnings) {
-		GLogLevelFlags fatal_mask;
-
-		fatal_mask = g_log_set_always_fatal (G_LOG_FATAL_MASK);
-		fatal_mask |= G_LOG_LEVEL_WARNING | G_LOG_LEVEL_CRITICAL;
-		g_log_set_always_fatal (fatal_mask);
-	}
+	if (global_opt.g_fatal_warnings)
+		_set_g_fatal_warnings ();
 
 	if (global_opt.show_version) {
 		fprintf (stdout, NM_DIST_VERSION "\n");