diff --git a/changes/bug9122 b/changes/bug9122
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5009da612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug9122
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+  o Major bugfixes:
+    - When receiving a new configuration file via the control port's
+      LOADCONF command, do not treat the defaults file as absent.
+      Fixes bug 9122; bugfix on 0.2.3.9-alpha.
diff --git a/changes/bug9147 b/changes/bug9147
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e6064ea0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug9147
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+  o Minor features:
+    - Issue a warning when running with the bufferevents backend enabled.
+      It's still not stable, and people should know that they're likely
+      to hit unexpected problems. Closes ticket 9147.
diff --git a/src/or/config.c b/src/or/config.c
index 55d19b8e2..725190a96 100644
--- a/src/or/config.c
+++ b/src/or/config.c
@@ -3785,6 +3785,10 @@ options_init_from_string(const char *cf_defaults, const char *cf,
       newdefaultoptions = config_dup(&options_format, newoptions);
   }
 
+  if (newdefaultoptions == NULL) {
+    newdefaultoptions = config_dup(&options_format, global_default_options);
+  }
+
   /* Go through command-line variables too */
   retval = config_assign(&options_format, newoptions,
                          global_cmdline_options, 0, 0, msg);
diff --git a/src/or/main.c b/src/or/main.c
index fd8b6cf67..bd23141b9 100644
--- a/src/or/main.c
+++ b/src/or/main.c
@@ -1882,6 +1882,13 @@ do_main_loop(void)
     }
   }
 
+#ifdef USE_BUFFEREVENTS
+  log_warn(LD_GENERAL, "Tor was compiled with the --enable-bufferevents "
+           "option. This is still experimental, and might cause strange "
+           "bugs. If you want a more stable Tor, be sure to build without "
+           "--enable-bufferevents.");
+#endif
+
   handle_signals(1);
 
   /* load the private keys, if we're supposed to have them, and set up the