diff --git a/test/fixtures/config/basic.yml b/test/fixtures/config/basic.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..35df5c33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/config/basic.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+foo: 5
+bar: 7
+baz: 11
diff --git a/test/fixtures/config/empty.yml b/test/fixtures/config/empty.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/test/fixtures/config/malformed.yml b/test/fixtures/config/malformed.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59c227c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/config/malformed.yml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+@
diff --git a/test/robot.js b/test/robot.js
index 55da6353..7bf23561 100644
--- a/test/robot.js
+++ b/test/robot.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
 const expect = require('expect');
 const Context = require('../lib/context');
 const createRobot = require('../lib/robot');
@@ -7,6 +9,12 @@ const nullLogger = {};
   nullLogger[level] = function () { };
 });
 
+function readConfig(fileName) {
+  const configPath = path.join(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'config', fileName);
+  const content = fs.readFileSync(configPath, {encoding: 'utf8'});
+  return {content: Buffer.from(content).toString('base64')};
+}
+
 describe('Robot', function () {
   let webhook;
   let robot;
@@ -63,4 +71,73 @@ describe('Robot', function () {
       expect(spy).toNotHaveBeenCalled();
     });
   });
+
+  describe('getPluginConfig', function () {
+    let github;
+
+    beforeEach(function () {
+      github = {
+        repos: {
+          getContent: spy
+        }
+      };
+    });
+
+    it('gets a valid configuration', async function () {
+      spy.andReturn(Promise.resolve(readConfig('basic.yml')));
+      const config = await robot.getPluginConfig(github, 'owner', 'repo', 'test-file.yml');
+
+      expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(spy.calls[0].arguments[0]).toEqual({
+        owner: 'owner',
+        repo: 'repo',
+        path: '.github/test-file.yml'
+      });
+      expect(config).toEqual({
+        foo: 5,
+        bar: 7,
+        baz: 11
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('throws when the file is missing', async function () {
+      spy.andReturn(Promise.reject(new Error('An error occurred')));
+
+      let e;
+      let contents;
+      try {
+        await robot.getPluginConfig(github, 'owner', 'repo', 'test-file.yml');
+      } catch (err) {
+        e = err;
+      }
+
+      expect(contents).toNotExist();
+      expect(e).toExist();
+      expect(e.message).toEqual('An error occurred');
+    });
+
+    it('throws when the configuration file is malformed', async function () {
+      spy.andReturn(Promise.resolve(readConfig('malformed.yml')));
+
+      let e;
+      let contents;
+      try {
+        contents = await robot.getPluginConfig(github, 'owner', 'repo', 'test-file.yml');
+      } catch (err) {
+        e = err;
+      }
+
+      expect(contents).toNotExist();
+      expect(e).toExist();
+      expect(e.message).toMatch(/^end of the stream or a document separator/);
+    });
+
+    it('returns an empty object when the file is empty', async function () {
+      spy.andReturn(readConfig('empty.yml'));
+
+      const contents = await robot.getPluginConfig(github, 'owner', 'repo', 'test-file.yml');
+
+      expect(contents).toEqual({});
+    });
+  });
 });