diff --git a/lib/installer.php b/lib/installer.php
index 2eff2d85ac..c046eadea3 100644
--- a/lib/installer.php
+++ b/lib/installer.php
@@ -85,7 +85,11 @@ abstract class Installer
         $config = INSTALLDIR.'/config.php';
         if (file_exists($config)) {
             if (!is_writable($config) || filesize($config) > 0) {
-                $this->warning('Config file "config.php" already exists.');
+                if (filesize($config) == 0) {
+                    $this->warning('Config file "config.php" already exists and is empty, but is not writable.');
+                } else {
+                    $this->warning('Config file "config.php" already exists.');
+                }
                 $pass = false;
             }
         }
diff --git a/lib/statusnet.php b/lib/statusnet.php
index 7212a4a47d..7cb831696b 100644
--- a/lib/statusnet.php
+++ b/lib/statusnet.php
@@ -336,8 +336,11 @@ class StatusNet
 
         foreach ($config_files as $_config_file) {
             if (@file_exists($_config_file)) {
-                include($_config_file);
-                self::$have_config = true;
+                // Ignore 0-byte config files
+                if (filesize($_config_file) > 0) {
+                    include($_config_file);
+                    self::$have_config = true;
+                }
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/plugins/ModHelper/ModHelperPlugin.php b/plugins/ModHelper/ModHelperPlugin.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..78818ebc87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/ModHelper/ModHelperPlugin.php
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+<?php
+/*
+ * StatusNet - the distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ * Copyright (C) 2010, StatusNet, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+if (!defined('STATUSNET')) {
+    exit(1);
+}
+
+/**
+ * @package ModHelperPlugin
+ * @maintainer Brion Vibber <brion@status.net>
+ */
+class ModHelperPlugin extends Plugin
+{
+    function onPluginVersion(&$versions)
+    {
+        $versions[] = array('name' => 'ModHelper',
+                            'version' => STATUSNET_VERSION,
+                            'author' => 'Brion Vibber',
+                            'homepage' => 'http://status.net/wiki/Plugin:ModHelper',
+                            'rawdescription' =>
+                            _m('Lets users who have been manually marked as "modhelper"s silence accounts.'));
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    function onUserRightsCheck($profile, $right, &$result)
+    {
+        if ($right == Right::SILENCEUSER || $right == Right::SANDBOXUSER) {
+            // Hrm.... really we should confirm that the *other* user isn't privleged. :)
+            if ($profile->hasRole('modhelper')) {
+                $result = true;
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+
+}