diff --git a/src/trx-config/src/file.rs b/src/trx-config/src/file.rs
index d0b1ea7a..beeaea14 100644
--- a/src/trx-config/src/file.rs
+++ b/src/trx-config/src/file.rs
@@ -2,10 +2,28 @@
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 
+//! Loading a config section out of a TOML file.
+//!
+//! Two file shapes are accepted:
+//!
+//! - **Sectioned** — a combined `trx-rs.toml` with `[trx-server]` and/or
+//!   `[trx-client]` tables.  This is what `--print-config` and
+//!   `trx-configurator` emit.
+//! - **Bare** — a standalone file whose root *is* the section, i.e. `[general]`
+//!   and `[rig]` at the top level.  Hand-written per-binary configs use this.
+//!
+//! A file that carries some other component's section but not ours is treated
+//! as "section absent" rather than as a bare file, so loading a client-only
+//! config with the server reports the missing section instead of silently
+//! falling back to defaults.
+
 use serde::de::DeserializeOwned;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use thiserror::Error;
 
+/// Every section key that may appear at the root of a combined config file.
+pub const SECTION_KEYS: &[&str] = &["trx-server", "trx-client"];
+
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
 pub enum ConfigError {
     #[error("Failed to read config file {0}: {1}")]
@@ -26,6 +44,22 @@ fn config_search_paths() -> Vec<PathBuf> {
     paths
 }
 
+/// Pick the table holding `key`'s settings out of a parsed document.
+///
+/// Returns the named section when present, the whole document when it carries
+/// no section headers at all (a bare standalone file), or `None` when the file
+/// is sectioned but has no section for `key`.
+fn select_section(table: &toml::Table, key: &str) -> Option<toml::Value> {
+    if let Some(section) = table.get(key) {
+        return Some(section.clone());
+    }
+    let is_sectioned = SECTION_KEYS.iter().any(|k| table.contains_key(*k));
+    if is_sectioned {
+        return None;
+    }
+    Some(toml::Value::Table(table.clone()))
+}
+
 /// Extract and deserialize a named section from a TOML file.
 ///
 /// Returns `Ok(Some(cfg))` when the section is present and parses cleanly,
@@ -40,12 +74,12 @@ fn load_section_from_file<T: DeserializeOwned>(
     let table: toml::Table = toml::from_str(&content)
         .map_err(|e| ConfigError::ParseError(path.to_path_buf(), e.to_string()))?;
 
-    let Some(section) = table.get(key) else {
+    let Some(section) = select_section(&table, key) else {
         return Ok(None);
     };
 
     // Re-serialize the section then parse as T so all serde defaults apply.
-    let section_toml = toml::to_string(section)
+    let section_toml = toml::to_string(&section)
         .map_err(|e| ConfigError::ParseError(path.to_path_buf(), e.to_string()))?;
     let cfg = toml::from_str::<T>(&section_toml)
         .map_err(|e| ConfigError::ParseError(path.to_path_buf(), e.to_string()))?;
@@ -59,8 +93,10 @@ pub trait ConfigFile: Sized + Default + DeserializeOwned {
 
     /// Load the section from a specific file path.
     ///
-    /// Returns an error if the file cannot be read, is not valid TOML, or
-    /// does not contain the expected `[<section_key>]` header.
+    /// Accepts both a sectioned file (`[<section_key>]` at the root) and a bare
+    /// file whose root is the section itself.  Returns an error if the file
+    /// cannot be read, is not valid TOML, or is sectioned for some other
+    /// component only.
     fn load_from_file(path: &Path) -> Result<Self, ConfigError> {
         load_section_from_file::<Self>(path, Self::section_key())?.ok_or_else(|| {
             ConfigError::ParseError(
@@ -86,3 +122,38 @@ pub trait ConfigFile: Sized + Default + DeserializeOwned {
         Ok((Self::default(), None))
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn table(s: &str) -> toml::Table {
+        toml::from_str(s).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_select_section_prefers_named_section() {
+        let t = table("[trx-server]\n[trx-server.general]\ncallsign = \"W1AW\"\n");
+        let section = select_section(&t, "trx-server").unwrap();
+        assert!(section.get("general").is_some());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_select_section_falls_back_to_root_for_bare_file() {
+        let t = table("[general]\ncallsign = \"W1AW\"\n");
+        let section = select_section(&t, "trx-server").unwrap();
+        assert!(section.get("general").is_some());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_select_section_absent_when_other_section_present() {
+        let t = table("[trx-client]\n[trx-client.general]\ncallsign = \"W1AW\"\n");
+        assert!(select_section(&t, "trx-server").is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_select_section_empty_file_is_bare() {
+        let t = table("");
+        assert!(select_section(&t, "trx-server").is_some());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/trx-configurator/src/writer.rs b/src/trx-configurator/src/writer.rs
index e5837a1a..fc1de6f7 100644
--- a/src/trx-configurator/src/writer.rs
+++ b/src/trx-configurator/src/writer.rs
@@ -211,10 +211,13 @@ pub fn build_server(general: ServerGeneral, rig: RigSetup, listen: ListenSetup)
     let mut doc = DocumentMut::new();
     doc.decor_mut()
         .set_prefix("# trx-server configuration\n# Generated by trx-configurator\n");
-    let tables = build_server_tables(general, rig, listen);
-    for (key, item) in tables.iter() {
-        doc.insert(key, item.clone());
-    }
+    // Emit the sectioned shape (`[trx-server]`) that trx-server writes with
+    // --print-config, so a generated file can be dropped into a combined
+    // trx-rs.toml unchanged.
+    doc.insert(
+        "trx-server",
+        Item::Table(build_server_tables(general, rig, listen)),
+    );
     doc
 }
 
@@ -350,10 +353,10 @@ pub fn build_client(
     let mut doc = DocumentMut::new();
     doc.decor_mut()
         .set_prefix("# trx-client configuration\n# Generated by trx-configurator\n");
-    let tables = build_client_tables(general, remote, frontends);
-    for (key, item) in tables.iter() {
-        doc.insert(key, item.clone());
-    }
+    doc.insert(
+        "trx-client",
+        Item::Table(build_client_tables(general, remote, frontends)),
+    );
     doc
 }
 
@@ -453,3 +456,52 @@ pub fn write_file(doc: &DocumentMut, path: &Path) -> Result<(), String> {
     println!("Wrote {}", path.display());
     Ok(())
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use trx_config::{ClientConfig, ServerConfig};
+
+    fn write_temp(doc: &DocumentMut) -> tempfile::NamedTempFile {
+        let file = tempfile::Builder::new().suffix(".toml").tempfile().unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(file.path(), doc.to_string()).unwrap();
+        file
+    }
+
+    /// The wizard used to emit root-level `[general]` / `[rig]` tables while the
+    /// loader demanded a `[trx-server]` section, so every generated standalone
+    /// config was rejected by the binary it was generated for.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_generated_server_config_loads_and_validates() {
+        let file = write_temp(&build_default(ConfigType::Server));
+        let cfg = ServerConfig::load_from_file(file.path()).expect("generated config must load");
+        cfg.validate().expect("generated config must validate");
+        assert_eq!(cfg.rig.model.as_deref(), Some("ft817"));
+        assert_eq!(cfg.listen.port, 4530);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_generated_client_config_loads_and_validates() {
+        let file = write_temp(&build_default(ConfigType::Client));
+        let cfg = ClientConfig::load_from_file(file.path()).expect("generated config must load");
+        cfg.validate().expect("generated config must validate");
+        assert_eq!(cfg.remote.url.as_deref(), Some("localhost:4530"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_generated_combined_config_loads_both_sections() {
+        let file = write_temp(&build_default(ConfigType::Combined));
+        let server = ServerConfig::load_from_file(file.path()).expect("server section must load");
+        server.validate().expect("server section must validate");
+        let client = ClientConfig::load_from_file(file.path()).expect("client section must load");
+        client.validate().expect("client section must validate");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_generated_docs_are_sectioned() {
+        let doc = build_default(ConfigType::Server);
+        assert!(doc.as_table().contains_key("trx-server"));
+        let doc = build_default(ConfigType::Client);
+        assert!(doc.as_table().contains_key("trx-client"));
+    }
+}