diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Coursier.scala b/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Coursier.scala
index 0366ea41d..980d6f934 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Coursier.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Coursier.scala
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ case class CommonOptions(
   @Value("classifier1,classifier2,...")
   @Short("C")
     classifier: List[String],
+  @Help("Default configuration (default(compile) by default)")
+  @Value("configuration")
+  @Short("c")
+    defaultConfiguration: String = "default(compile)",
   @Help("Maximum number of parallel downloads (default: 6)")
   @Short("n")
     parallel: Int = 6,
@@ -316,7 +320,7 @@ case class Launch(
         } else {
           // Trying to get the main class of the first artifact
           val mainClassOpt = for {
-            (module, _) <- helper.moduleVersions.headOption
+            (module, _, _) <- helper.moduleVersionConfigs.headOption
             mainClass <- mainClasses.collectFirst {
               case ((org, name), mainClass)
                 if org == module.organization && (
diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Helper.scala b/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Helper.scala
index 1d282edc3..46932bd93 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Helper.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Helper.scala
@@ -118,10 +118,10 @@ class Helper(
   }
 
 
-  val (modVerErrors, moduleVersions) = Parse.moduleVersions(rawDependencies)
+  val (modVerCfgErrors, moduleVersionConfigs) = Parse.moduleVersionConfigs(rawDependencies)
 
-  prematureExitIf(modVerErrors.nonEmpty) {
-    s"Cannot parse dependencies:\n" + modVerErrors.map("  "+_).mkString("\n")
+  prematureExitIf(modVerCfgErrors.nonEmpty) {
+    s"Cannot parse dependencies:\n" + modVerCfgErrors.map("  "+_).mkString("\n")
   }
 
 
@@ -164,12 +164,12 @@ class Helper(
     (mod.organization, mod.name)
   }.toSet
 
-  val dependencies = moduleVersions.map {
-    case (module, version) =>
+  val dependencies = moduleVersionConfigs.map {
+    case (module, version, configOpt) =>
       Dependency(
         module,
         version,
-        configuration = "default(compile)",
+        configuration = configOpt.getOrElse(defaultConfiguration),
         exclusions = excludes,
         transitive = !intransitive
       )
diff --git a/core/shared/src/main/scala/coursier/util/Parse.scala b/core/shared/src/main/scala/coursier/util/Parse.scala
index 0f0c03b76..2b2f0c653 100644
--- a/core/shared/src/main/scala/coursier/util/Parse.scala
+++ b/core/shared/src/main/scala/coursier/util/Parse.scala
@@ -81,14 +81,52 @@ object Parse {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+    * Parses coordinates like
+    *   org:name:version
+    *  possibly with attributes, like
+    *   org:name;attr1=val1;attr2=val2:version
+    *  and a configuration, like
+    *   org:name:version:config
+    *  or
+    *   org:name;attr1=val1;attr2=val2:version:config
+    */
+  def moduleVersionConfig(s: String): Either[String, (Module, String, Option[String])] = {
+
+    val parts = s.split(":", 4)
+
+    parts match {
+      case Array(org, rawName, version, config) =>
+        module(s"$org:$rawName")
+          .right
+          .map((_, version, Some(config)))
+
+      case Array(org, rawName, version) =>
+        module(s"$org:$rawName")
+          .right
+          .map((_, version, None))
+
+      case _ =>
+        Left(s"Malformed coordinates: $s")
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
     * Parses a sequence of coordinates.
     *
-    * @return Sequence of errors, and sequence of modules/versions
+    * @return Sequence of errors, and sequence of modules / versions
     */
   def moduleVersions(l: Seq[String]): (Seq[String], Seq[(Module, String)]) =
     valuesAndErrors(moduleVersion, l)
 
+  /**
+    * Parses a sequence of coordinates having an optional configuration.
+    *
+    * @return Sequence of errors, and sequence of modules / versions / optional configurations
+    */
+  def moduleVersionConfigs(l: Seq[String]): (Seq[String], Seq[(Module, String, Option[String])]) =
+    valuesAndErrors(moduleVersionConfig, l)
+
   def repository(s: String): Repository =
     if (s == "central")
       MavenRepository("https://repo1.maven.org/maven2")