diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fb9b3dd..3631d4e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Note: Breaking changes between versions are indicated by "💥".
 
 ## Latest
 
+- [Improvement] Better yaml value parsing from command line
 - [Feature] Add `dev exec` command
 - [Bugfix] Fix incorrect notes settings definition
 - [Improvement] Make it possible to start/stop/reboot a selection of services
diff --git a/tests/test_serialize.py b/tests/test_serialize.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c960d39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_serialize.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import unittest
+
+from tutor import serialize
+
+
+class SerializeTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_parse_str(self):
+        self.assertEqual("abcd", serialize.parse("abcd"))
+
+    def test_parse_int(self):
+        self.assertEqual(1, serialize.parse("1"))
+
+    def test_parse_bool(self):
+        self.assertEqual(True, serialize.parse("true"))
+        self.assertEqual(False, serialize.parse("false"))
+
+    def test_parse_null(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(serialize.parse("null"))
+
+    def test_parse_invalid_format(self):
+        self.assertEqual('["abcd"', serialize.parse('["abcd"'))
+
+    def test_parse_list(self):
+        self.assertEqual(["abcd"], serialize.parse('["abcd"]'))
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 2e91a3c..09fe807 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -20,10 +20,3 @@ class UtilsTests(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_reverse_host(self):
         self.assertEqual("com.google.www", utils.reverse_host("www.google.com"))
-
-
-class SerializeTests(unittest.TestCase):
-    def test_parse_value(self):
-        self.assertEqual(True, serialize.parse_value("true"))
-        self.assertEqual(False, serialize.parse_value("false"))
-        self.assertEqual(None, serialize.parse_value("null"))
diff --git a/tutor/commands/dev.py b/tutor/commands/dev.py
index 19511cd..ba738e3 100644
--- a/tutor/commands/dev.py
+++ b/tutor/commands/dev.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ def run(root, edx_platform_path, edx_platform_settings, service, command, args):
         root, edx_platform_path, edx_platform_settings, port, *run_command
     )
 
+
 @click.command(
     help="Exec a command in a running container",
     context_settings={"ignore_unknown_options": True},
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ def execute(root, service, command, args):
         exec_command += args
     docker_compose(root, *exec_command)
 
+
 @click.command(help="Run a development server")
 @opts.root
 @opts.edx_platform_path
diff --git a/tutor/config.py b/tutor/config.py
index 85e683a..7c2a224 100644
--- a/tutor/config.py
+++ b/tutor/config.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def load_env(config, defaults):
     for k in defaults.keys():
         env_var = "TUTOR_" + k
         if env_var in os.environ:
-            config[k] = serialize.parse_value(os.environ[env_var])
+            config[k] = serialize.parse(os.environ[env_var])
 
 
 def load_required(config, defaults):
diff --git a/tutor/opts.py b/tutor/opts.py
index 136d4fc..bf0d494 100644
--- a/tutor/opts.py
+++ b/tutor/opts.py
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ class YamlParamType(click.ParamType):
             k, v = value.split("=")
         except ValueError:
             self.fail("'{}' is not of the form 'key=value'.".format(value), param, ctx)
-        return k, serialize.parse_value(v)
+        return k, serialize.parse(v)
diff --git a/tutor/serialize.py b/tutor/serialize.py
index 34351d1..1c11885 100644
--- a/tutor/serialize.py
+++ b/tutor/serialize.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import yaml
+from yaml.parser import ParserError
 
 
 def load(stream):
@@ -9,15 +10,12 @@ def dump(content, fileobj):
     yaml.dump(content, fileobj, default_flow_style=False)
 
 
-def parse_value(v):
+def parse(v):
     """
-    Parse a yaml-formatted string. This is fairly basic and should only be used
-    for parsing of elementary values.
+    Parse a yaml-formatted string.
     """
-    if v.isdigit():
-        v = int(v)
-    elif v == "null":
-        v = None
-    elif v in ["true", "false"]:
-        v = v == "true"
+    try:
+        return load(v)
+    except ParserError:
+        pass
     return v