diff --git a/lib/sensu/settings/loader.rb b/lib/sensu/settings/loader.rb
index 4007891..de20821 100644
--- a/lib/sensu/settings/loader.rb
+++ b/lib/sensu/settings/loader.rb
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ def load_file(file)
       def load_directory(directory)
         warning("loading config files from directory", :directory => directory)
         path = directory.gsub(/\\(?=\S)/, "/")
-        Dir.glob(File.join(path, "**/*.json")).each do |file|
+        Dir.glob(File.join(path, "**{,/*/**}/*.json")).uniq.each do |file|
           load_file(file)
         end
       end
diff --git a/spec/assets/alternative/conf.d/loop b/spec/assets/alternative/conf.d/loop
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..e5ef02d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/assets/alternative/conf.d/loop
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../conf.d
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/assets/alternative/conf.d/symlinked.json b/spec/assets/alternative/conf.d/symlinked.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fb3f9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/assets/alternative/conf.d/symlinked.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "checks": {
+    "symlinked": {
+      "command": "echo -n symlinked",
+      "subscribers": [
+        "baz"
+      ],
+     "interval": 60
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/spec/assets/conf.d/alternative b/spec/assets/conf.d/alternative
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..506c23d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/assets/conf.d/alternative
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../alternative/conf.d/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/loader_spec.rb b/spec/loader_spec.rb
index 84bf641..5009779 100644
--- a/spec/loader_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/loader_spec.rb
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@
   it "can load settings from files in a directory" do
     @loader.load_directory(@config_dir)
     warnings = @loader.warnings
-    expect(warnings.size).to eq(4)
+    expect(warnings.size).to eq(6)
     messages = warnings.map do |warning|
       warning[:message]
     end
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
   it "can set environment variables for child processes" do
     @loader.load_file(@config_file)
     @loader.load_directory(@config_dir)
-    expect(@loader.loaded_files.size).to eq(3)
+    expect(@loader.loaded_files.size).to eq(4)
     @loader.set_env!
     expect(ENV["SENSU_LOADED_TEMPFILE"]).to match(/sensu_rspec_loaded_files/)
     loaded_files = IO.read(ENV["SENSU_LOADED_TEMPFILE"])