diff --git a/met/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc b/met/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc
index bfdeef07b2..1b655034ac 100644
--- a/met/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc
+++ b/met/src/basic/vx_config/config_util.cc
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ using namespace std;
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 static const double default_vld_thresh = 1.0;
+static const char conf_key_prepbufr_map_typo[] = "obs_prefbufr_map";    // for backward compatibility
 
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
@@ -1089,7 +1090,13 @@ map<ConcatString,StringArray> parse_conf_metadata_map(Dictionary *dict) {
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 map<ConcatString,ConcatString> parse_conf_obs_bufr_map(Dictionary *dict) {
-   map<ConcatString,ConcatString> m = parse_conf_key_value_map(dict, conf_key_obs_prefbufr_map);
+   map<ConcatString,ConcatString> m = parse_conf_key_value_map(dict, conf_key_obs_prepbufr_map);
+   if (m.empty()) {
+      //kludge: there was a typo in the config name
+      m = parse_conf_key_value_map(dict, conf_key_prepbufr_map_typo);
+      mlog << Warning << "\nPlease rename the configuration name \"" << conf_key_prepbufr_map_typo
+           << "\" to \"" << conf_key_obs_prepbufr_map << "\" at the customized PB2NC config file\n\n";
+   }
    parse_add_conf_key_value_map(dict, conf_key_obs_bufr_map, &m);
    return m;
 }