diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 93628a1..1e44343 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ You can specify a different port like this:
 
     PORT=8111 boot run
 
-In your main namespace -- `main.clj` in the example here -- the call to `(fw1/start)` can be passed an arbitrary number of configuration parameters:
+In your main namespace -- `main.clj` in the example here -- the call to `(fw1/start)` can be passed configuration parameters either
+as a map or as an arbitrary number of inline key / value pairs:
 
 * `:after` - a function (taking / returning `rc`) which will be called after invoking any controller
 * `:application-key` - the namespace prefix for the application, default none.
@@ -111,3 +112,4 @@ In your main namespace -- `main.clj` in the example here -- the call to `(fw1/st
 * `:suffix` - the file extension used for views and layouts. Default is `"html"`.
 
 For example: `(fw1/start :default-section "hello" :default-item "world")` will tell FW/1 to use `hello.world` as the default action.
+You could also say: `(fw1/start {:default-section "hello" :default-item "world"})`.
diff --git a/build.boot b/build.boot
index 6236251..f576f2f 100644
--- a/build.boot
+++ b/build.boot
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 (def project 'framework-one)
-(def version "0.5.1")
+(def version "0.5.2")
 
 (task-options!
  pom {:project     project
diff --git a/src/framework/one.clj b/src/framework/one.clj
index 70c3868..9faf02f 100644
--- a/src/framework/one.clj
+++ b/src/framework/one.clj
@@ -375,8 +375,14 @@
    :suffix "html" ; views / layouts would be .html
    :version "0.4.0"})
 
-(defn start [& app-config]
-  (let [options (merge default-options (apply hash-map app-config))
+(defn start
+  "Start the server. Accepts either a map of configuration parameters
+  or inline config key / value pairs (for backward compatibility)."
+  [& app-config]
+  (let [app-config (if (keyword? (first app-config))
+                     (apply hash-map app-config)
+                     (first app-config))
+        options (merge default-options app-config)
         dynamic-options (framework-defaults options)
         config (update-in dynamic-options [:middleware]
                           (merge-middleware dynamic-options))]