diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 69b22f956..f9d9ddf40 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -904,8 +904,18 @@ version = "0.10.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0d706e75d87e35569db781a9b5e2416cff1236a47ed380831f959382ccd5f858"
 dependencies = [
- "darling_core",
- "darling_macro",
+ "darling_core 0.10.2",
+ "darling_macro 0.10.2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "darling"
+version = "0.12.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a06d4a9551359071d1890820e3571252b91229e0712e7c36b08940e603c5a8fc"
+dependencies = [
+ "darling_core 0.12.2",
+ "darling_macro 0.12.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -918,7 +928,21 @@ dependencies = [
  "ident_case",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "strsim",
+ "strsim 0.9.3",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "darling_core"
+version = "0.12.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b443e5fb0ddd56e0c9bfa47dc060c5306ee500cb731f2b91432dd65589a77684"
+dependencies = [
+ "fnv",
+ "ident_case",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "strsim 0.10.0",
  "syn",
 ]
 
@@ -928,7 +952,18 @@ version = "0.10.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d9b5a2f4ac4969822c62224815d069952656cadc7084fdca9751e6d959189b72"
 dependencies = [
- "darling_core",
+ "darling_core 0.10.2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "darling_macro"
+version = "0.12.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c0220073ce504f12a70efc4e7cdaea9e9b1b324872e7ad96a208056d7a638b81"
+dependencies = [
+ "darling_core 0.12.2",
  "quote",
  "syn",
 ]
@@ -949,7 +984,7 @@ version = "0.9.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a2658621297f2cf68762a6f7dc0bb7e1ff2cfd6583daef8ee0fed6f7ec468ec0"
 dependencies = [
- "darling",
+ "darling 0.10.2",
  "derive_builder_core",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -962,7 +997,7 @@ version = "0.9.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2791ea3e372c8495c0bc2033991d76b512cd799d07491fbd6890124db9458bef"
 dependencies = [
- "darling",
+ "darling 0.10.2",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "syn",
@@ -1982,6 +2017,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "reqwest",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "serde_with",
  "strum",
  "strum_macros",
  "thiserror",
@@ -3061,6 +3097,28 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_with"
+version = "1.6.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b44be9227e214a0420707c9ca74c2d4991d9955bae9415a8f93f05cebf561be5"
+dependencies = [
+ "serde",
+ "serde_with_macros",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "serde_with_macros"
+version = "1.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e48b35457e9d855d3dc05ef32a73e0df1e2c0fd72c38796a4ee909160c8eeec2"
+dependencies = [
+ "darling 0.12.2",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serial_test"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -3246,6 +3304,12 @@ version = "0.9.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6446ced80d6c486436db5c078dde11a9f73d42b57fb273121e160b84f63d894c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "strsim"
+version = "0.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "73473c0e59e6d5812c5dfe2a064a6444949f089e20eec9a2e5506596494e4623"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "strum"
 version = "0.20.0"
diff --git a/crates/utils/Cargo.toml b/crates/utils/Cargo.toml
index bb87cd301..7dff6f5c7 100644
--- a/crates/utils/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/utils/Cargo.toml
@@ -37,3 +37,4 @@ jsonwebtoken = "7.2.0"
 deser-hjson = "0.1.12"
 merge = "0.1.0"
 envy = "0.4.2"
+serde_with = "1.6.4"
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
index 21d89b98a..34e4cd9e8 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 use merge::Merge;
 use serde::Deserialize;
+use serde_with::with_prefix;
 use std::net::IpAddr;
 
+with_prefix!(captcha "captcha__");
+
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone, Merge)]
 pub struct Settings {
   pub(crate) database: Option<DatabaseConfig>,
@@ -14,6 +17,7 @@ pub struct Settings {
   pub(crate) jwt_secret: Option<String>,
   pub(crate) pictrs_url: Option<String>,
   pub(crate) iframely_url: Option<String>,
+  #[serde(flatten, with = "captcha")]
   pub(crate) captcha: Option<CaptchaConfig>,
   pub(crate) email: Option<EmailConfig>,
   pub(crate) setup: Option<SetupConfig>,
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index fa110b51e..1c011e1c9 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ embed_migrations!();
 async fn main() -> Result<(), LemmyError> {
   env_logger::init();
   let settings = Settings::get();
+  dbg!(&settings.captcha());
 
   // Set up the r2d2 connection pool
   let db_url = match get_database_url_from_env() {