diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Audit.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Audit.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..294e40cd78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Audit.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+namespace ServiceControl.UnitTests;
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+[TestFixture]
+public class PopulateAppSettingsTests
+{
+    [Test]
+    public async Task Should_populate_appSettings_from_exe_config_file()
+    {
+        const string MagicValue = "7303A0AA-1003-4DC4-823B-4E8B2A35CF57";
+
+        var config = $"""
+                      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+                      <configuration>
+                        <appSettings>
+                          <add key="ServiceControl.Audit/LogPath" value="{MagicValue}"   />
+                        </appSettings>
+                      </configuration>
+                      """;
+
+        await File.WriteAllTextAsync("ServiceControl.Audit.exe.config", config);
+
+        var fileName = "ServiceControl.Audit";
+        if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
+        {
+            fileName = "ServiceControl.Audit.exe";
+        }
+
+        var startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(fileName) { RedirectStandardOutput = true, UseShellExecute = false };
+
+        var p = Process.Start(startInfo);
+
+        if (p == null)
+        {
+            throw new Exception($"Failed to start {fileName}");
+        }
+
+        var pathIsSet = false;
+
+        var outputTask = Task.Run(async () =>
+        {
+            while (!p.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
+            {
+                var line = await p.StandardOutput.ReadLineAsync();
+
+                Console.WriteLine(line);
+
+                if (line.Contains($"Logging to {MagicValue}"))
+                {
+                    pathIsSet = true;
+                    p.Kill(true);
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        if (!p.WaitForExit(5000))
+        {
+            p.Kill(true);
+        }
+
+        await outputTask;
+
+        Assert.That(pathIsSet, Is.True);
+    }
+
+    [TearDown]
+    public void TearDown() => File.Delete("ServiceControl.exe.config");
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Audit/Program.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Audit/Program.cs
index dbe5268e93..763329c2f6 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Audit/Program.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Audit/Program.cs
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 try
 {
+    ExeConfiguration.PopulateAppSettings(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
+
     var loggingSettings = new LoggingSettings(Settings.SettingsRootNamespace);
     LoggingConfigurator.ConfigureLogging(loggingSettings);
     logger = LoggerUtil.CreateStaticLogger(typeof(Program));
@@ -25,7 +27,6 @@
         return exitCode;
     }
 
-    ExeConfiguration.PopulateAppSettings(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
 
     var arguments = new HostArguments(args);
 
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Configuration/ExeConfiguration.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Configuration/ExeConfiguration.cs
index 2f0b0f3c5b..671d490ab3 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Configuration/ExeConfiguration.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Configuration/ExeConfiguration.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 namespace ServiceControl.Configuration
 {
+    using System;
     using System.Configuration;
     using System.IO;
     using System.Linq;
@@ -12,27 +13,37 @@ public static class ExeConfiguration
         // This code reads in the exe.config files and adds all the values into the ConfigurationManager's collections.
         public static void PopulateAppSettings(Assembly assembly)
         {
-            var location = Path.GetDirectoryName(assembly.Location);
-            var assemblyName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(assembly.Location);
-            var exeConfigPath = Path.Combine(location, $"{assemblyName}.exe.config");
-            var fileMap = new ExeConfigurationFileMap { ExeConfigFilename = exeConfigPath };
-            var configuration = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration(fileMap, ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
-
-            foreach (var key in configuration.AppSettings.Settings.AllKeys)
+            try
             {
-                ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Set(key, configuration.AppSettings.Settings[key].Value);
+                var location = Path.GetDirectoryName(assembly.Location);
+                var assemblyName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(assembly.Location);
+                var exeConfigPath = Path.Combine(location, $"{assemblyName}.exe.config");
+                var fileMap = new ExeConfigurationFileMap
+                {
+                    ExeConfigFilename = exeConfigPath
+                };
+                var configuration = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration(fileMap, ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
+
+                foreach (var key in configuration.AppSettings.Settings.AllKeys)
+                {
+                    ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Set(key, configuration.AppSettings.Settings[key].Value);
+                }
+
+                // The connection strings collection has had its read only flag set, so we need to clear it before we can add items to it
+                UnsetCollectionReadonly(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings);
+
+                foreach (var connectionStringSetting in configuration.ConnectionStrings.ConnectionStrings.Cast<ConnectionStringSettings>())
+                {
+                    ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings.Add(connectionStringSetting);
+                }
+
+                // Put the collection back into its previous state after we're done adding items to it
+                SetCollectionReadOnly(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings);
             }
-
-            // The connection strings collection has had its read only flag set, so we need to clear it before we can add items to it
-            UnsetCollectionReadonly(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings);
-
-            foreach (var connectionStringSetting in configuration.ConnectionStrings.ConnectionStrings.Cast<ConnectionStringSettings>())
+            catch (Exception e)
             {
-                ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings.Add(connectionStringSetting);
+                throw new Exception("Failed to populate app settings.", e);
             }
-
-            // Put the collection back into its previous state after we're done adding items to it
-            SetCollectionReadOnly(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings);
         }
 
         static void UnsetCollectionReadonly(ConfigurationElementCollection collection)
@@ -47,4 +58,4 @@ static void UnsetCollectionReadonly(ConfigurationElementCollection collection)
         [UnsafeAccessor(UnsafeAccessorKind.Method, Name = "SetReadOnly")]
         static extern void SetCollectionReadOnly(ConfigurationElementCollection collection);
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b7abd42264
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+namespace ServiceControl.UnitTests;
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+[TestFixture]
+public class PopulateAppSettingsTests
+{
+    [Test]
+    public async Task Should_populate_appSettings_from_exe_config_file()
+    {
+        const string MagicValue = "7303A0AA-1003-4DC4-823B-4E8B2A35CF57";
+
+        var config = $"""
+                      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+                      <configuration>
+                        <appSettings>
+                          <add key="Monitoring/LogPath" value="{MagicValue}"   />
+                        </appSettings>
+                      </configuration>
+                      """;
+
+        await File.WriteAllTextAsync("ServiceControl.Monitoring.exe.config", config);
+
+        var fileName = "ServiceControl.Monitoring";
+        if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
+        {
+            fileName = "ServiceControl.Monitoring.exe";
+        }
+
+        var startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(fileName)
+        {
+            RedirectStandardOutput = true,
+            UseShellExecute = false
+        };
+
+        var p = Process.Start(startInfo);
+
+        if (p == null)
+        {
+            throw new Exception($"Failed to start {fileName}");
+        }
+
+        var pathIsSet = false;
+
+        var outputTask = Task.Run(async () =>
+        {
+            while (!p.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
+            {
+                var line = await p.StandardOutput.ReadLineAsync();
+
+                Console.WriteLine(line);
+
+                if (line.Contains($"Logging to {MagicValue}"))
+                {
+                    pathIsSet = true;
+                    p.Kill(true);
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        if (!p.WaitForExit(5000))
+        {
+            p.Kill(true);
+        }
+
+        await outputTask;
+
+        Assert.That(pathIsSet, Is.True);
+    }
+
+    [TearDown]
+    public void TearDown() => File.Delete("ServiceControl.exe.config");
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring/Program.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring/Program.cs
index e8dce81512..81393c0c61 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring/Program.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Monitoring/Program.cs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 try
 {
+    ExeConfiguration.PopulateAppSettings(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
+
     var loggingSettings = new LoggingSettings(Settings.SettingsRootNamespace);
     LoggingConfigurator.ConfigureLogging(loggingSettings);
     logger = LoggerUtil.CreateStaticLogger(typeof(Program));
@@ -23,8 +25,6 @@
         return exitCode;
     }
 
-    ExeConfiguration.PopulateAppSettings(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
-
     var arguments = new HostArguments(args);
 
     var settings = new Settings(loggingSettings: loggingSettings);
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs b/src/ServiceControl.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28b5e3e088
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.UnitTests/PopulateAppSettingsTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+namespace ServiceControl.UnitTests;
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+[TestFixture]
+public class PopulateAppSettingsTests
+{
+    [Test]
+    public async Task Should_populate_appSettings_from_exe_config_file()
+    {
+        const string MagicValue = "7303A0AA-1003-4DC4-823B-4E8B2A35CF57";
+
+        var config = $"""
+                      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+                      <configuration>
+                        <appSettings>
+                          <add key="ServiceControl/LogPath" value="{MagicValue}"   />
+                        </appSettings>
+                      </configuration>
+                      """;
+
+        await File.WriteAllTextAsync("ServiceControl.exe.config", config);
+
+        var fileName = "ServiceControl";
+        if (RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows))
+        {
+            fileName = "ServiceControl.exe";
+        }
+
+        var startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(fileName)
+        {
+            RedirectStandardOutput = true,
+            UseShellExecute = false
+        };
+
+        var p = Process.Start(startInfo);
+
+        if (p == null)
+        {
+            throw new Exception("Failed to start ServiceControl");
+        }
+
+        var pathIsSet = false;
+
+        var outputTask = Task.Run(async () =>
+        {
+            while (!p.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)
+            {
+                var line = await p.StandardOutput.ReadLineAsync();
+
+                if (line.Contains($"Logging to {MagicValue}"))
+                {
+                    pathIsSet = true;
+                    p.Kill(true);
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
+        if (!p.WaitForExit(5000))
+        {
+            p.Kill(true);
+        }
+
+        await outputTask;
+
+        Assert.That(pathIsSet, Is.True);
+    }
+
+    [TearDown]
+    public void TearDown() => File.Delete("ServiceControl.exe.config");
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl/Program.cs b/src/ServiceControl/Program.cs
index ec4a0bc70d..857ed0a782 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl/Program.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl/Program.cs
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 try
 {
+    ExeConfiguration.PopulateAppSettings(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
+
     var loggingSettings = new LoggingSettings(Settings.SettingsRootNamespace);
     LoggingConfigurator.ConfigureLogging(loggingSettings);
     logger = LoggerUtil.CreateStaticLogger(typeof(Program));
@@ -25,8 +27,6 @@
         return exitCode;
     }
 
-    ExeConfiguration.PopulateAppSettings(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
-
     var arguments = new HostArguments(args);
 
     if (arguments.Help)