diff --git a/lib/Qpsmtpd.pm b/lib/Qpsmtpd.pm
index 7402a96..9914f10 100644
--- a/lib/Qpsmtpd.pm
+++ b/lib/Qpsmtpd.pm
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ sub load_logging {
   # need to do this differently that other plugins so as to 
   # not trigger logging activity
   my $self = shift;
+  #warn("load_logging: $self->{hooks}{logging} ", caller(8), "\n");
   return if $self->{hooks}->{"logging"};
   my $configdir = $self->config_dir("logging");
   my $configfile = "$configdir/logging";
@@ -75,7 +76,9 @@ sub varlog {
 
   unless ( $rc and $rc == DECLINED or $rc == OK ) {
     # no logging plugins registered so fall back to STDERR
+    my $fd = $self->{fd};
     warn join(" ", $$ .
+      (defined $fd ? " fd:$fd" : "") .
       (defined $plugin ? " $plugin plugin:" : 
        defined $hook   ? " running plugin ($hook):"  : ""),
       @log), "\n"
@@ -161,26 +164,92 @@ sub get_qmail_config {
 }
 
 sub _config_from_file {
-  my ($self, $configfile, $config) = @_;
+  my ($self, $configfile, $config, $visited) = @_;
   return unless -e $configfile;
+
+  $visited ||= [];
+  push @{$visited}, $configfile;
+
   open CF, "<$configfile" or warn "$$ could not open configfile $configfile: $!" and return;
   my @config = <CF>;
   chomp @config;
   @config = grep { length($_) and $_ !~ m/^\s*#/ and $_ =~ m/\S/} @config;
   close CF;
-  #$self->log(10, "returning get_config for $config ",Data::Dumper->Dump([\@config], [qw(config)]));
+
+  my $pos = 0;
+  while ($pos < @config) {
+    # recursively pursue an $include reference, if found.  An inclusion which
+    # begins with a leading slash is interpreted as a path to a file and will
+    # supercede the usual config path resolution.  Otherwise, the normal
+    # config_dir() lookup is employed (the location in which the inclusion
+    # appeared receives no special precedence; possibly it should, but it'd
+    # be complicated beyond justifiability for so simple a config system.
+    if ($config[$pos] =~ /^\s*\$include\s+(\S+)\s*$/) {
+      my ($includedir, $inclusion) = ('', $1);
+
+      splice @config, $pos, 1; # remove the $include line
+      if ($inclusion !~ /^\//) {
+        $includedir = $self->config_dir($inclusion);
+        $inclusion = "$includedir/$inclusion";
+      }
+
+      if (grep($_ eq $inclusion, @{$visited})) {
+        $self->log(LOGERROR, "Circular \$include reference in config $config:");
+        $self->log(LOGERROR, "From $visited->[0]:");
+        $self->log(LOGERROR, "  includes $_")
+          for (@{$visited}[1..$#{$visited}], $inclusion);
+        return wantarray ? () : undef;
+      }
+      push @{$visited}, $inclusion;
+
+      for my $inc ($self->expand_inclusion_($inclusion, $configfile)) {
+        my @insertion = $self->_config_from_file($inc, $config, $visited);
+        splice @config, $pos, 0, @insertion;   # insert the inclusion
+        $pos += @insertion;
+      }
+    } else {
+      $pos++;
+    }
+  }
+
   $self->{_config_cache}->{$config} = \@config;
+
   return wantarray ? @config : $config[0];
 }
 
-our $HOOKS;
+sub expand_inclusion_ {
+  my $self = shift;
+  my $inclusion = shift;
+  my $context = shift;
+  my @includes;
+
+  if (-d $inclusion) {
+    $self->log(LOGDEBUG, "inclusion of directory $inclusion from $context");
+
+    if (opendir(INCD, $inclusion)) {
+      @includes = map { "$inclusion/$_" }
+        (grep { -f "$inclusion/$_" and !/^\./ } readdir INCD);
+      closedir INCD;
+    } else {
+      $self->log(LOGERROR, "Couldn't open directory $inclusion,".
+                           " referenced from $context ($!)");
+    }
+  } else {
+    $self->log(LOGDEBUG, "inclusion of file $inclusion from $context");
+    @includes = ( $inclusion );
+  }
+  return @includes;
+}
+
+
+#our $HOOKS;
 
 sub load_plugins {
   my $self = shift;
 
-  if ($HOOKS) {
-      return $self->{hooks} = $HOOKS;
-  }
+#  if ($HOOKS) {
+#      return $self->{hooks} = $HOOKS;
+#  }
 
   $self->log(LOGWARN, "Plugins already loaded") if $self->{hooks};
   $self->{hooks} = {};
@@ -192,8 +261,8 @@ sub load_plugins {
 
   @plugins = $self->_load_plugins($dir, @plugins);
   
-  $HOOKS = $self->{hooks};
-  
+#  $HOOKS = $self->{hooks};
+#  
   return @plugins;
 }
 
@@ -205,28 +274,6 @@ sub _load_plugins {
   for my $plugin_line (@plugins) {
     my ($plugin, @args) = split ' ', $plugin_line;
     
-    if (lc($plugin) eq '$include') {
-      my $inc = shift @args;
-      my $config_dir = $self->config_dir($inc);
-      if (-d "$config_dir/$inc") {
-        $self->log(LOGDEBUG, "Loading include dir: $config_dir/$inc");
-        opendir(DIR, "$config_dir/$inc") || die "opendir($config_dir/$inc): $!";
-        my @plugconf = sort grep { -f $_ } map { "$config_dir/$inc/$_" } grep { !/^\./ } readdir(DIR);
-        closedir(DIR);
-        foreach my $f (@plugconf) {
-            push @ret, $self->_load_plugins($dir, $self->_config_from_file($f, "plugins"));
-        }
-      }
-      elsif (-f "$config_dir/$inc") {
-        $self->log(LOGDEBUG, "Loading include file: $config_dir/$inc");
-        push @ret, $self->_load_plugins($dir, $self->_config_from_file("$config_dir/$inc", "plugins"));
-      }
-      else {
-        $self->log(LOGCRIT, "CRITICAL PLUGIN CONFIG ERROR: Include $config_dir/$inc not found");
-      }
-      next;
-    }
-
     my $plugin_name = $plugin;
     $plugin =~ s/:\d+$//;       # after this point, only used for filename
 
@@ -335,13 +382,12 @@ sub run_hook {
   my ($self, $hook, $code, @args) = @_;
   my @r;
   if ( $hook eq 'logging' ) { # without calling $self->log()
-    eval { (@r) = $code->{code}->($self, $self->transaction, @_); };
+    eval { (@r) = $code->{code}->($self, $self->{_transaction}, @_); };
     $@ and warn("FATAL LOGGING PLUGIN ERROR: ", $@) and next;
   }
   else {
     $self->varlog(LOGINFO, $hook, $code->{name});
     eval { (@r) = $code->{code}->($self, $self->transaction, @args); };
-    
     $@ and $self->log(LOGCRIT, "FATAL PLUGIN ERROR: ", $@) and return;
   
     !defined $r[0]