--- a/pvl/hosts.py	Mon Dec 16 21:15:42 2013 +0200
+++ b/pvl/hosts.py	Mon Dec 16 22:27:01 2013 +0200
@@ -108,19 +108,20 @@
     """
 
     scalars = dict((scalar, config[scalar]) for scalar in config.scalars)
-    params = dict(defaults, **scalars)
 
     if config.sections :
         # recurse; this is a domain meta-section
-        params.setdefault('domain', name)
+        params = dict(defaults, domain=name, **scalars)
 
         for section in config.sections :
             for host in apply_hosts_config(options, config[section], section, params) :
                 yield host
 
     elif name :
+        params = dict(defaults, **scalars)
+
         # this is a host section
-        for host in Host.config(options, name, **config) :
+        for host in Host.config(options, name, **params) :
             yield host
 
     else :