diff -r e26c7709e023 -r 962c98e4864d mcabber/mcabber/screen.c
--- a/mcabber/mcabber/screen.c	Sat Feb 11 20:19:36 2017 +0100
+++ b/mcabber/mcabber/screen.c	Mon Feb 13 20:02:14 2017 +0100
@@ -827,6 +827,8 @@
 
   // Set up vi_mode guard
   settings_set_guard("vi_mode", scr_vi_mode_guard);
+  if (settings_opt_get_int("vi_mode") == 1)
+    vi_mode = true;
 
   parse_colors();