diff --git a/beets/ui/__init__.py b/beets/ui/__init__.py
index 8f779f832..63035a4fc 100644
--- a/beets/ui/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/ui/__init__.py
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ def _raw_main(args, load_config=True):
 
     # Parse the command-line!
     options, subcommand, suboptions, subargs = parser.parse_args(args)
-    config.add_args(options)
+    config.set_args(options)
 
     # Open library file.
     dbpath = config['library'].as_filename()
diff --git a/beets/ui/commands.py b/beets/ui/commands.py
index ed535cbc8..25edd20ca 100644
--- a/beets/ui/commands.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands.py
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ import_cmd.parser.add_option('-i', '--incremental', dest='incremental',
 import_cmd.parser.add_option('-I', '--noincremental', dest='incremental',
     action='store_false', help='do not skip already-imported directories')
 def import_func(lib, opts, args):
-    config['import'].add_args(opts)
+    config['import'].set_args(opts)
 
     # Special case: --copy flag suppresses import_move (which would
     # otherwise take precedence).
diff --git a/beets/util/confit.py b/beets/util/confit.py
index d1f6f4f93..7a034c9cc 100644
--- a/beets/util/confit.py
+++ b/beets/util/confit.py
@@ -140,14 +140,16 @@ class ConfigView(object):
         return value
 
     def add(self, value):
-        """Add a value as a source for configuration data. The object as
-        added as the lowest-priority source. This can be used to
-        dynamically extend the defaults.
+        """Set the *default* value for this configuration view. The
+        specified value is added as the lowest-priority configuration
+        data source.
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
     def set(self, value):
-        """Create an overlay source to set the value at this view.
+        """*Override* the value for this configuration view. The
+        specified value is added as the highest-priority configuration
+        data source.
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
@@ -164,7 +166,7 @@ class ConfigView(object):
         """
         self.set({key: value})
 
-    def add_args(self, namespace):
+    def set_args(self, namespace):
         """Overlay parsed command-line arguments, generated by a library
         like argparse or optparse, onto this view's value.
         """