diff --git a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt
index 51af9f4a..05105dce 100644
--- a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt
+++ b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/api/Kobalt.kt
@@ -18,15 +18,22 @@ public class Kobalt {
         var context: KobaltContext? = null
 
         /**
-         * @return the repos from the build files and from the contributors.
+         * @return the repos calculated from the following places:
+         * - Either repos specified in settings.xml or from Constants.DEFAULT_REPOS
+         * - Repos from the build file
          */
         val repos : Set<HostConfig>
             get() {
-                val result = HashSet(reposFromBuildFiles)
+                val settingsRepos = Kobalt.context?.settings?.defaultRepos ?: emptyList()
+                val result = ArrayList(
+                        (if (settingsRepos.isEmpty()) Constants.DEFAULT_REPOS
+                        else settingsRepos)
+                    .map { HostConfig(it) })
+
                 Kobalt.context?.pluginInfo?.repoContributors?.forEach {
                     result.addAll(it.reposFor(null))
                 }
-                return result
+                return result.toHashSet()
             }
 
         val reposFromBuildFiles = HashSet<HostConfig>(Constants.DEFAULT_REPOS.map { HostConfig(it) })
diff --git a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt
index ce06b01b..37391a4e 100644
--- a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt
+++ b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/internal/KobaltSettingsXml.kt
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement
 class KobaltSettingsXml {
     @XmlElement @JvmField
     var localRepo: String = homeDir(KFiles.KOBALT_DOT_DIR, "repository")
+
+    @XmlElement(name = "default-repos") @JvmField
+    var defaultRepos: DefaultReposXml? = null
+}
+
+class DefaultReposXml {
+    @XmlElement @JvmField
+    var repo: List<String> = arrayListOf()
 }
 
 /**
@@ -28,7 +36,9 @@ class KobaltSettings @Inject constructor(val xmlFile: KobaltSettingsXml) {
     /**
      * Location of the local repo.
      */
-    var localRepo = xmlFile.localRepo
+    var localRepo = xmlFile.localRepo // var for testing
+
+    val defaultRepos = xmlFile.defaultRepos?.repo
 
     companion object {
         val SETTINGS_FILE_PATH = homeDir(KFiles.KOBALT_DIR, "settings.xml")
@@ -40,7 +50,8 @@ class KobaltSettings @Inject constructor(val xmlFile: KobaltSettingsXml) {
                     val jaxbContext = JAXBContext.newInstance(KobaltSettingsXml::class.java)
                     val xmlFile: KobaltSettingsXml = jaxbContext.createUnmarshaller().unmarshal(it)
                             as KobaltSettingsXml
-                    return KobaltSettings(xmlFile)
+                    val result = KobaltSettings(xmlFile)
+                    return result
                 }
             } else {
                 log(2, "Couldn't find ${KobaltSettings.SETTINGS_FILE_PATH}, using default settings")