diff --git a/bin/glance-api b/bin/glance-api
index 9f214ca8cb..d35f6bd24b 100755
--- a/bin/glance-api
+++ b/bin/glance-api
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     (options, args) = config.parse_options(oparser)
 
     try:
-        conf, app = config.load_paste_app('api', options, args)
+        conf, app = config.load_paste_app('glance-api', options, args)
 
         server = wsgi.Server()
         server.start(app, int(conf['bind_port']), conf['bind_host'])
diff --git a/bin/glance-control b/bin/glance-control
index 12b070fb55..eb19e86490 100755
--- a/bin/glance-control
+++ b/bin/glance-control
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def do_start(server, options, args):
         pid_file = '/var/run/glance/%s.pid' % server
     else:
         pid_file = os.path.abspath(options['pid_file'])
-    conf_file = config.find_config_file(options, args)
+    conf_file = config.find_config_file(server, options, args)
     if not conf_file:
         sys.exit("Could not find any configuration file to use!")
     launch_args = [(conf_file, pid_file)]
diff --git a/doc/source/configuring.rst b/doc/source/configuring.rst
index 80e841acfb..467f09608c 100644
--- a/doc/source/configuring.rst
+++ b/doc/source/configuring.rst
@@ -17,10 +17,34 @@
 Configuring Glance
 ==================
 
+Glance has a number of options that you can use to configure the Glance API
+server, the Glance Registry server, and the various storage backends that
+Glance can use to store images.
+
+Most configuration is done via configuration files, with the Glance API
+server and Glance Registry server using separate configuration files.
+
+When starting up a Glance server, you can specify the configuration file to
+use (see `the documentation on controller Glance servers <controllingservers>`_).
+If you do **not** specify a configuration file, Glance will look in the following
+directories for a configuration file, in order:
+
+* ``$CWD``
+* ``~/.glance``
+* ``~/``
+* ``/etc/glance``
+* ``/etc``
+
+The Glance API server configuration file should be named ``glance-api.conf``.
+Similarly, the Glance Registry server configuration file should be named
+``glance-registry.conf``. If you installed Glance via your operating system's
+package management system, it is likely that you will have sample
+configuration files installed in ``/etc/glance``.
+
 In addition to this documentation page, you can check the
-``etc/glance.conf.sample`` sample configuration file distributed with Glance
-for an example configuration file with detailed comments on what each options
-does.
+``etc/glance-api.conf`` and ``etc/glance-registry.conf`` sample configuration
+files distributed with Glance for example configuration files for each server
+application with detailed comments on what each options does.
 
 Common Configuration Options in Glance
 --------------------------------------
@@ -67,7 +91,7 @@ Configuring Logging in Glance
 
 There are a number of configuration options in Glance that control how Glance
 servers log messages. The configuration options can be specified both on the
-command line and in the ``glance.conf`` config file.
+command line and in config files.
 
 * ``--log-config=PATH``
 
@@ -113,7 +137,7 @@ Configuring Glance Storage Backends
 
 There are a number of configuration options in Glance that control how Glance
 stores disk images. These configuration options are specified in the
-``glance.conf`` config file `in the section [app:glance-api]`.
+``glance-api.conf`` config file in the section ``[DEFAULT]``.
 
 * ``default_store=STORE``
 
@@ -199,7 +223,7 @@ Configuring the Glance Registry
 Glance ships with a default, reference implementation registry server. There
 are a number of configuration options in Glance that control how this registry
 server operates. These configuration options are specified in the
-``glance.conf`` config file `in the section [app:glance-registry]`.
+``glance-registry.conf`` config file in the section ``[DEFAULT]``.
 
 * ``sql_connection=CONNECTION_STRING`` (``--sql-connection`` when specified
   on command line)
diff --git a/etc/api.conf b/etc/glance-api.conf
similarity index 98%
rename from etc/api.conf
rename to etc/glance-api.conf
index 829128bf59..1cbf67d0da 100644
--- a/etc/api.conf
+++ b/etc/glance-api.conf
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ swift_store_container = glance
 # Do we create the container if it does not exist?
 swift_store_create_container_on_put = False
 
-[composite:api]
+[composite:glance-api]
 use = egg:Paste#urlmap
 /: versions
 /v1.0: api_1_0
diff --git a/etc/registry.conf b/etc/glance-registry.conf
similarity index 100%
rename from etc/registry.conf
rename to etc/glance-registry.conf
diff --git a/glance/common/config.py b/glance/common/config.py
index d073bd7dc0..3d34c6b066 100644
--- a/glance/common/config.py
+++ b/glance/common/config.py
@@ -175,14 +175,14 @@ def setup_logging(options, conf):
         root_logger.addHandler(handler)
 
 
-def find_config_file(options, args):
+def find_config_file(app_name, options, args):
     """
-    Return the first config file found.
+    Return the first config file found for an application.
 
     We search for the paste config file in the following order:
     * If --config-file option is used, use that
     * If args[0] is a file, use that
-    * Search for glance.conf in standard directories:
+    * Search for $app.conf in standard directories:
         * .
         * ~.glance/
         * ~
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ def find_config_file(options, args):
                         '/etc']
 
     for cfg_dir in config_file_dirs:
-        cfg_file = os.path.join(cfg_dir, 'glance.conf')
+        cfg_file = os.path.join(cfg_dir, '%s.conf' % app_name)
         if os.path.exists(cfg_file):
             return cfg_file
 
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ def load_paste_config(app_name, options, args):
     :raises RuntimeError when config file cannot be located or there was a
             problem loading the configuration file.
     """
-    conf_file = find_config_file(options, args)
+    conf_file = find_config_file(app_name, options, args)
     if not conf_file:
         raise RuntimeError("Unable to locate any configuration file. "
                             "Cannot load application %s" % app_name)
diff --git a/tests/functional/__init__.py b/tests/functional/__init__.py
index dcb29ecad2..160a2c2913 100644
--- a/tests/functional/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/functional/__init__.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ registry_host = 0.0.0.0
 registry_port = %(registry_port)s
 log_file = %(log_file)s
 
-[composite:api]
+[composite:glance-api]
 use = egg:Paste#urlmap
 /: versions
 /v1.0: api_1_0
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_logging.py b/tests/functional/test_logging.py
index 8045b536ff..4070df6471 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_logging.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_logging.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class TestLogging(functional.FunctionalTest):
 
         api_log_out = open(self.api_server.log_file, 'r').read()
 
-        self.assertTrue('DEBUG [api]' in api_log_out)
+        self.assertTrue('DEBUG [glance-api]' in api_log_out)
 
         self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.registry_server.log_file))