diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 66d6954..3fce7d2 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -110,6 +110,13 @@ struct config_item {
 #define PORT_ITEM_INT(label, _default, min, max) \
 	CONFIG_ITEM_INT(label, 1, _default, min, max)
 
+static struct config_enum delay_mech_enu[] = {
+	{ "Auto", DM_AUTO },
+	{ "E2E",  DM_E2E },
+	{ "P2P",  DM_P2P },
+	{ NULL, 0 },
+};
+
 static struct config_enum nw_trans_enu[] = {
 	{ "L2",    TRANS_IEEE_802_3 },
 	{ "UDPv4", TRANS_UDP_IPV4   },
@@ -126,6 +133,7 @@ struct config_item config_tab[] = {
 	GLOB_ITEM_INT("clockClass", 248, 0, UINT8_MAX),
 	PORT_ITEM_INT("delayAsymmetry", 0, INT_MIN, INT_MAX),
 	PORT_ITEM_INT("delay_filter_length", 10, 1, INT_MAX),
+	PORT_ITEM_ENU("delay_mechanism", DM_E2E, delay_mech_enu),
 	GLOB_ITEM_INT("domainNumber", 0, 0, 127),
 	PORT_ITEM_INT("egressLatency", 0, INT_MIN, INT_MAX),
 	PORT_ITEM_INT("fault_badpeernet_interval", 16, INT32_MIN, INT32_MAX),
@@ -367,17 +375,7 @@ static enum parser_result parse_port_setting(struct config *cfg,
 	if (r != NOT_PARSED)
 		return r;
 
-	if (!strcmp(option, "delay_mechanism")) {
-		if (!strcasecmp("Auto", value))
-			iface->dm = DM_AUTO;
-		else if (!strcasecmp("E2E", value))
-			iface->dm = DM_E2E;
-		else if (!strcasecmp("P2P", value))
-			iface->dm = DM_P2P;
-		else
-			return BAD_VALUE;
-
-	} else if (!strcmp(option, "tsproc_mode")) {
+	if (!strcmp(option, "tsproc_mode")) {
 		if (!strcasecmp("filter", value))
 			iface->tsproc_mode = TSPROC_FILTER;
 		else if (!strcasecmp("raw", value))
@@ -458,18 +456,6 @@ static enum parser_result parse_global_setting(const char *option,
 				return BAD_VALUE;
 		}
 
-	} else if (!strcmp(option, "delay_mechanism")) {
-		if (!(cfg_ignore & CFG_IGNORE_DM)) {
-			if (0 == strcasecmp("E2E", value))
-				cfg->dm = DM_E2E;
-			else if (0 == strcasecmp("P2P", value))
-				cfg->dm = DM_P2P;
-			else if (0 == strcasecmp("Auto", value))
-				cfg->dm = DM_AUTO;
-			else
-				return BAD_VALUE;
-		}
-
 	} else if (!strcmp(option, "clock_servo")) {
 		if (!strcasecmp("pi", value))
 			cfg->clock_servo = CLOCK_SERVO_PI;
@@ -705,7 +691,6 @@ struct interface *config_create_interface(char *name, struct config *cfg)
 
 void config_init_interface(struct interface *iface, struct config *cfg)
 {
-	iface->dm = cfg->dm;
 	sk_get_ts_info(iface->name, &iface->ts_info);
 	iface->delay_filter = cfg->dds.delay_filter;
 }
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 3cfc6ac..e1c24e8 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -35,13 +35,11 @@
 struct interface {
 	STAILQ_ENTRY(interface) list;
 	char name[MAX_IFNAME_SIZE + 1];
-	enum delay_mechanism dm;
 	struct sk_ts_info ts_info;
 	enum tsproc_mode tsproc_mode;
 	enum filter_type delay_filter;
 };
 
-#define CFG_IGNORE_DM           (1 << 0)
 #define CFG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMPING (1 << 2)
 
 struct config {
@@ -56,8 +54,6 @@ struct config {
 
 	/* the rest are legacy fields */
 	enum timestamp_type timestamping;
-	enum delay_mechanism dm;
-
 	struct default_ds dds;
 	enum servo_type clock_servo;
 
diff --git a/port.c b/port.c
index 706183f..8d48cf8 100644
--- a/port.c
+++ b/port.c
@@ -2550,7 +2550,7 @@ struct port *port_open(int phc_index,
 	p->portIdentity.clockIdentity = clock_identity(clock);
 	p->portIdentity.portNumber = number;
 	p->state = PS_INITIALIZING;
-	p->delayMechanism = interface->dm;
+	p->delayMechanism = config_get_int(cfg, p->name, "delay_mechanism");
 	p->versionNumber = PTP_VERSION;
 
 	/* Set fault timeouts to a default value */
diff --git a/ptp4l.c b/ptp4l.c
index 52fff25..cd81944 100644
--- a/ptp4l.c
+++ b/ptp4l.c
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ static struct config cfg_settings = {
 	},
 
 	.timestamping = TS_HARDWARE,
-	.dm = DM_E2E,
 	.clock_servo = CLOCK_SERVO_PI,
 
 	.ptp_dst_mac = ptp_dst_mac,
@@ -110,7 +109,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int c;
 	struct interface *iface;
 	int *cfg_ignore = &cfg_settings.cfg_ignore;
-	enum delay_mechanism *dm = &cfg_settings.dm;
 	enum timestamp_type *timestamping = &cfg_settings.timestamping;
 	struct clock *clock;
 	struct config *cfg = &cfg_settings;
@@ -130,16 +128,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	while (EOF != (c = getopt(argc, argv, "AEP246HSLf:i:p:sl:mqvh"))) {
 		switch (c) {
 		case 'A':
-			*dm = DM_AUTO;
-			*cfg_ignore |= CFG_IGNORE_DM;
+			if (config_set_int(cfg, "delay_mechanism", DM_AUTO))
+				return -1;
 			break;
 		case 'E':
-			*dm = DM_E2E;
-			*cfg_ignore |= CFG_IGNORE_DM;
+			if (config_set_int(cfg, "delay_mechanism", DM_E2E))
+				return -1;
 			break;
 		case 'P':
-			*dm = DM_P2P;
-			*cfg_ignore |= CFG_IGNORE_DM;
+			if (config_set_int(cfg, "delay_mechanism", DM_P2P))
+				return -1;
 			break;
 		case '2':
 			if (config_set_int(cfg, "network_transport",