diff --git a/packages/backend-common/src/config.ts b/packages/backend-common/src/config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd96a6b46a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-common/src/config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import {
+  createConfigSecretEnumerator,
+  loadBackendConfig as newLoadBackendConfig,
+} from '@backstage/backend-app-api';
+import { LoggerService } from '@backstage/backend-plugin-api';
+import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
+import { LoadConfigOptionsRemote } from '@backstage/config-loader';
+import { setRootLoggerRedactionList } from './logging/createRootLogger';
+
+/**
+ * Load configuration for a Backend.
+ *
+ * This function should only be called once, during the initialization of the backend.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export async function loadBackendConfig(options: {
+  logger: LoggerService;
+  // process.argv or any other overrides
+  remote?: LoadConfigOptionsRemote;
+  argv: string[];
+}): Promise<Config> {
+  const secretEnumerator = await createConfigSecretEnumerator({
+    logger: options.logger,
+  });
+  const { config } = await newLoadBackendConfig(options);
+
+  setRootLoggerRedactionList(secretEnumerator(config));
+  config.subscribe?.(() =>
+    setRootLoggerRedactionList(secretEnumerator(config)),
+  );
+
+  return config;
+}