diff --git a/bin/configure-ambassadors.py b/bin/configure-ambassadors.py
index 2efa1f1e..d226fec6 100755
--- a/bin/configure-ambassadors.py
+++ b/bin/configure-ambassadors.py
@@ -2,11 +2,6 @@
 
 import os
 import subprocess
-import sys
-import yaml
-
-compose_file = os.environ.get("COMPOSE_FILE") or sys.argv[1]
-stack = yaml.load(open(compose_file))
 
 project_name = os.path.basename(os.path.realpath("."))
 
diff --git a/bin/create-ambassadors.py b/bin/create-ambassadors.py
index 666e0ead..1e34fa93 100755
--- a/bin/create-ambassadors.py
+++ b/bin/create-ambassadors.py
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
+from common import ComposeFile
 import os
 import subprocess
-import sys
-import yaml
 
-compose_file = os.environ.get("COMPOSE_FILE") or sys.argv[1]
-stack = yaml.load(open(compose_file))
+config = ComposeFile()
 
 project_name = os.path.basename(os.path.realpath("."))
 
@@ -39,7 +37,7 @@ for container in containers_data.split('\n'):
     if not container:
         continue
     container_id, service_name = container.split()
-    extra_hosts = stack[service_name].get("extra_hosts", {})
+    extra_hosts = config.services[service_name].get("extra_hosts", {})
     for linked_service, bind_address in extra_hosts.items():
         description = "Ambassador {}/{}/{}".format(
             service_name, container_id, linked_service)
diff --git a/bin/link-to-ambassadors.py b/bin/link-to-ambassadors.py
index 824e781e..600e7597 100755
--- a/bin/link-to-ambassadors.py
+++ b/bin/link-to-ambassadors.py
@@ -1,32 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
-import os
-import sys
+from common import ComposeFile
 import yaml
 
-# You can specify up to 2 parameters:
-# - with 0 parameter, we will look for the COMPOSE_FILE env var
-# - with 1 parameter, the same file will be used for in and out
-# - with 2 parameters, the 1st is the input, the 2nd the output
-if len(sys.argv)==1:
-    if "COMPOSE_FILE" not in os.environ:
-        print("Please specify 1 or 2 file names, or set COMPOSE_FILE.")
-        sys.exit(1)
-    compose_file = os.environ["COMPOSE_FILE"]
-    if compose_file == "docker-compose.yml":
-        print("Refusing to operate directly on docker-compose.yml.")
-        print("Specify it on the command-line if that's what you want.")
-        sys.exit(1)
-    input_file, output_file = compose_file, compose_file
-elif len(sys.argv)==2:
-    input_file, output_file = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[1]
-elif len(sys.argv)==3:
-    input_file, output_file = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]
-else:
-    print("Too many arguments. Please specify up to 2 file names.")
-    sys.exit(1)
-
-stack = yaml.load(open(input_file))
+config = ComposeFile()
 
 # The ambassadors need to know the service port to use.
 # Those ports must be declared here.
@@ -38,7 +15,7 @@ def generate_local_addr():
         yield "127.127.0.{}".format(last_byte)
         last_byte += 1
 
-for service_name, service in stack.items():
+for service_name, service in config.services.items():
     if "links" in service:
         for link, local_addr in zip(service["links"], generate_local_addr()):
             if link not in ports:
@@ -58,5 +35,4 @@ for service_name, service in stack.items():
     if service_name in ports:
         service["ports"] = [ ports[service_name] ]
 
-yaml.safe_dump(stack, open(output_file, "w"), default_flow_style=False)
-
+config.save()