diff --git a/spec/ameba/severity_spec.cr b/spec/ameba/severity_spec.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..275d5059
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/ameba/severity_spec.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+require "../spec_helper"
+
+module Ameba
+  describe Severity do
+    describe ".default" do
+      it "returns default severity" do
+        Severity.default.should eq Severity::Refactoring
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe ".from_name" do
+      it "creates error severity by name" do
+        Severity.from_name("Error").should eq Severity::Error
+      end
+
+      it "creates warning severity by name" do
+        Severity.from_name("Warning").should eq Severity::Warning
+      end
+
+      it "creates refactoring severity by name" do
+        Severity.from_name("Refactoring").should eq Severity::Refactoring
+      end
+
+      it "raises when name is incorrect" do
+        expect_raises(Exception, "Incorrect severity name BadName. Try one of [Error, Warning, Refactoring]") do
+          Severity.from_name("BadName")
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  struct SeverityConvertable
+    YAML.mapping(
+      severity: { type: Severity, converter: SeverityYamlConverter }
+    )
+  end
+
+  describe SeverityYamlConverter do
+    describe ".from_yaml" do
+      it "converts from yaml to Severity::Error" do
+        yaml = { severity: "error" }.to_yaml
+        converted = SeverityConvertable.from_yaml(yaml)
+        converted.severity.should eq Severity::Error
+      end
+
+      it "converts from yaml to Severity::Warning" do
+        yaml = { severity: "warning" }.to_yaml
+        converted = SeverityConvertable.from_yaml(yaml)
+        converted.severity.should eq Severity::Warning
+      end
+
+      it "converts from yaml to Severity::Refactoring" do
+        yaml = { severity: "refactoring" }.to_yaml
+        converted = SeverityConvertable.from_yaml(yaml)
+        converted.severity.should eq Severity::Refactoring
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe ".to_yaml" do
+      it "converts Severity::Error to yaml" do
+        yaml = { severity: "error" }.to_yaml
+        converted = SeverityConvertable.from_yaml(yaml).to_yaml
+        converted.should eq "---\nseverity: Error\n"
+      end
+
+      it "converts Severity::Warning to yaml" do
+        yaml = { severity: "warning" }.to_yaml
+        converted = SeverityConvertable.from_yaml(yaml).to_yaml
+        converted.should eq "---\nseverity: Warning\n"
+      end
+
+      it "converts Severity::Refactoring to yaml" do
+        yaml = { severity: "refactoring" }.to_yaml
+        converted = SeverityConvertable.from_yaml(yaml).to_yaml
+        converted.should eq "---\nseverity: Refactoring\n"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/ameba/config.cr b/src/ameba/config.cr
index c204acd2..e8fdac23 100644
--- a/src/ameba/config.cr
+++ b/src/ameba/config.cr
@@ -193,6 +193,12 @@ class Ameba::Config
         {% key = name.camelcase.stringify %}
         {% value = df[:value] %}
         {% type = df[:type] %}
+        {% converter = nil %}
+
+        {% if key == "Severity" %}
+          {% type = Severity %}
+          {% converter = SeverityYamlConverter %}
+        {% end %}
 
         {% if type == nil %}
           {% if value.is_a? BoolLiteral %}
@@ -214,7 +220,7 @@ class Ameba::Config
           {% type = Nil if type == nil %}
         {% end %}
 
-        {% properties[name] = {key: key, default: value, type: type} %}
+        {% properties[name] = {key: key, default: value, type: type, converter: converter} %}
       {% end %}
 
       {% if properties["enabled".id] == nil %}
diff --git a/src/ameba/severity.cr b/src/ameba/severity.cr
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66de0763
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ameba/severity.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+module Ameba
+  enum Severity
+    Error
+    Warning
+    Refactoring
+
+    def self.default
+      Refactoring
+    end
+
+    def self.from_name(name : String)
+      case name.downcase
+      when "error"
+        Error
+      when "warning"
+        Warning
+      when "refactoring"
+        Refactoring
+      else
+        raise "Incorrect severity name #{name}. Try one of #{Severity.values}"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  class SeverityYamlConverter
+    def self.from_yaml(ctx : YAML::ParseContext, node : YAML::Nodes::Node)
+      unless node.is_a?(YAML::Nodes::Scalar)
+        raise "Severity must be a scalar, not #{node.class}"
+      end
+
+      case value = node.value
+      when String then Severity.from_name(value)
+      when Nil    then nil
+      else
+        raise "Incorrect severity: #{value}"
+      end
+    end
+
+    def self.to_yaml(value : Severity, yaml : YAML::Nodes::Builder)
+      yaml.scalar value.to_s
+    end
+  end
+end