diff --git a/init.lua b/init.lua
index eb60717..44f8613 100644
--- a/init.lua
+++ b/init.lua
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ end
 local rawget, rawset = rawget, rawset
 modlib = setmetatable({
 	-- TODO bump on release
-	version = 94,
+	version = 95,
 	modname = minetest and minetest.get_current_modname(),
 	_RG = setmetatable({}, {
 		__index = function(_, index)
diff --git a/minetest/conf.lua b/minetest/conf.lua
index a9315e4..e673dbd 100644
--- a/minetest/conf.lua
+++ b/minetest/conf.lua
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 -- Localize globals
-local assert, dump, error, ipairs, minetest, modlib, pairs, pcall, table, tonumber, type = assert, dump, error, ipairs, minetest, modlib, pairs, pcall, table, tonumber, type
+local assert, dump, error, ipairs, minetest, modlib, pairs, pcall, table, tonumber, type, unpack = assert, dump, error, ipairs, minetest, modlib, pairs, pcall, table, tonumber, type, unpack
 
 -- Set environment
 local _ENV = {}
 setfenv(1, _ENV)
 
 -- not deprecated
+-- TODO find a better way to deal with settings used as both parent & leaf, ideally preserving the data of both (store in boolean field?)
+local warn_parent_leaf = "modlib.minetest.conf.build_tree: setting %s used both as parent setting and as leaf, ignoring children"
 function build_tree(dict)
 	local tree = {}
 	for key, value in pairs(dict) do
@@ -15,8 +17,17 @@ function build_tree(dict)
 			local index = tonumber(path[i]) or path[i]
 			subtree[index] = subtree[index] or {}
 			subtree = subtree[index]
+			if type(subtree) ~= "table" then
+				minetest.log("warning", warn_parent_leaf:format(table.concat({unpack(path, 1, i)}, ".")))
+				break
+			end
+		end
+		if type(subtree) == "table" then
+			if type(subtree[path[#path]]) == "table" then
+				minetest.log("warning", warn_parent_leaf:format(key))
+			end
+			subtree[path[#path]] = value
 		end
-		subtree[path[#path]] = value
 	end
 	return tree
 end
@@ -303,4 +314,4 @@ function check_constraints(value, constraints)
 end
 
 -- Export environment
-return _ENV
\ No newline at end of file
+return _ENV