diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CFMetaData.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CFMetaData.java
index 4fe4692bff..b127fec348 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CFMetaData.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CFMetaData.java
@@ -255,14 +255,13 @@ public final class CFMetaData
         double keyCacheSize = din.readDouble();
         double readRepairChance = din.readDouble();
         int cfId = din.readInt();
-        int columnMetadataSize = din.readInt();
+        int columnMetadataEntries = din.readInt();
         Map<byte[], ColumnDefinition> column_metadata = new TreeMap<byte[], ColumnDefinition>(FBUtilities.byteArrayComparator);
-        while (columnMetadataSize > 0)
+        for (int i = 0; i < columnMetadataEntries; i++)
         {
             int cdSize = din.readInt();
             byte[] cdBytes = new byte[cdSize];
-            if (in.read(cdBytes) != cdSize)
-                throw new IOException("short read of ColumnDefinition");
+            din.readFully(cdBytes);
             ColumnDefinition cd = ColumnDefinition.deserialize(cdBytes);
             column_metadata.put(cd.name, cd);
         }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/ColumnFamily.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/ColumnFamily.java
index 9a0ae8f301..1ca1ddb267 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/ColumnFamily.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/ColumnFamily.java
@@ -18,5 +18,5 @@ public class ColumnFamily {
     public double keys_cached = CFMetaData.DEFAULT_KEY_CACHE_SIZE; 
     public double read_repair_chance = CFMetaData.DEFAULT_READ_REPAIR_CHANCE;
     public boolean preload_row_cache = CFMetaData.DEFAULT_PRELOAD_ROW_CACHE;
-    public Map<byte[], ColumnDefinition> column_metata = Collections.emptyMap();
+    public RawColumnDefinition[] column_metadata = new RawColumnDefinition[0];
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index 18bcfcc1a7..af83354c0f 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -115,11 +115,14 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
             InputStream input = new FileInputStream(new File(configFileName));
             org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.Constructor constructor = new org.yaml.snakeyaml.constructor.Constructor(Config.class);
             TypeDescription desc = new TypeDescription(Config.class);
+            desc.putListPropertyType("keyspaces", Keyspace.class);
             TypeDescription ksDesc = new TypeDescription(Keyspace.class);
             ksDesc.putListPropertyType("column_families", ColumnFamily.class);
-            desc.putListPropertyType("keyspaces", Keyspace.class);
+            TypeDescription cfDesc = new TypeDescription(ColumnFamily.class);
+            cfDesc.putListPropertyType("column_metadata", RawColumnDefinition.class);
             constructor.addTypeDescription(desc);
             constructor.addTypeDescription(ksDesc);
+            constructor.addTypeDescription(cfDesc);
             Yaml yaml = new Yaml(new Loader(constructor));
             conf = (Config)yaml.load(input);
             
@@ -536,7 +539,34 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
                 {                        
                     throw new ConfigurationException("read_repair_chance must be between 0.0 and 1.0");
                 }
-                cfDefs[j++] = new CFMetaData(keyspace.name, cf.name, cfType, cf.clock_type, comparator, subcolumnComparator, reconciler, cf.comment, cf.rows_cached, cf.preload_row_cache, cf.keys_cached, cf.read_repair_chance, cf.column_metata);
+                
+                Map<byte[], ColumnDefinition> metadata = new TreeMap<byte[], ColumnDefinition>(FBUtilities.byteArrayComparator);
+                for (RawColumnDefinition rcd : cf.column_metadata)
+                {
+                    try
+                    {
+                        byte[] columnName = rcd.name.getBytes("UTF-8");
+                        metadata.put(columnName, new ColumnDefinition(columnName, rcd.validator_class, rcd.index_type, rcd.index_name));
+                    }
+                    catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e)
+                    {
+                        throw new AssertionError(e);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                cfDefs[j++] = new CFMetaData(keyspace.name, 
+                                             cf.name, 
+                                             cfType, 
+                                             cf.clock_type, 
+                                             comparator, 
+                                             subcolumnComparator, 
+                                             reconciler, 
+                                             cf.comment, 
+                                             cf.rows_cached,
+                                             cf.preload_row_cache, 
+                                             cf.keys_cached, 
+                                             cf.read_repair_chance, 
+                                             metadata);
             }
             defs.add(new KSMetaData(keyspace.name, strategyClass, keyspace.replication_factor, cfDefs));
             
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/RawColumnDefinition.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/RawColumnDefinition.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bb51f258cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/RawColumnDefinition.java
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package org.apache.cassandra.config;
+
+import org.apache.cassandra.thrift.IndexType;
+
+public class RawColumnDefinition
+{
+    public String name;
+    public String validator_class;
+    public IndexType index_type;
+    public String index_name;
+}
diff --git a/test/conf/cassandra.yaml b/test/conf/cassandra.yaml
index 7e84302bd6..f279206695 100644
--- a/test/conf/cassandra.yaml
+++ b/test/conf/cassandra.yaml
@@ -62,6 +62,12 @@ keyspaces:
           column_type: Super
           compare_subcolumns_with: UTF8Type
 
+        - name: Indexed1
+          column_metadata:
+            - name: birthdate
+              validator_class: LongType
+              index_type: KEYS
+
     - name: Keyspace2
       replica_placement_strategy: org.apache.cassandra.locator.RackUnawareStrategy
       replication_factor: 1