diff --git a/Fig.Core/Fig.Core.csproj b/Fig.Core/Fig.Core.csproj
index bada2eb..15bc26f 100644
--- a/Fig.Core/Fig.Core.csproj
+++ b/Fig.Core/Fig.Core.csproj
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     <Copyright>Robert Friberg et al</Copyright>
     <PackageLicenseExpression>MIT</PackageLicenseExpression>
     <RootNamespace>Fig</RootNamespace>
+    <LangVersion>8</LangVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Remove="appsettings.json" />
diff --git a/Fig.Core/Settings.cs b/Fig.Core/Settings.cs
index d3479b7..bff1d2e 100644
--- a/Fig.Core/Settings.cs
+++ b/Fig.Core/Settings.cs
@@ -17,29 +17,21 @@ public sealed class Settings
         /// </summary>
         private readonly IStringConverter _converter;
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Path to the node in the tree to bind to for example:
-        /// Given keys A.B.C and A.B.D, a binding path of A.B
-        /// will bind the values of A.B.C and A.B.D to properties C and D of this type
-        /// </summary>
-        private readonly string _bindingPath;
-
         public override String ToString()
         {
             if (SettingsDictionary is null) return base.ToString();
             return SettingsDictionary.AsString();
         }
         
-        private Settings(string bindingPath = null, IStringConverter converter = null)
+        private Settings(IStringConverter converter = null)
         {
             _converter = converter ?? new InvariantStringConverter();
-            _bindingPath = bindingPath ?? "";
         }
         
 
         internal Settings(LayeredSettingsDictionary settingsDictionary,
-            string bindingPath = null, IStringConverter converter = null)
-            : this(bindingPath, converter)
+            IStringConverter converter = null)
+            : this(converter)
         {
             SettingsDictionary = settingsDictionary;
         }
@@ -76,10 +68,15 @@ public void Bind<T>(T target, bool validate = true, string path = null)
             BindProperties(target, validate, path);
         }
 
+        internal string Combine(string bindingPath, string typeName, string propertyName)
+        {
+            if (bindingPath is null) return $"{typeName}.{propertyName}";
+            if (bindingPath.Trim() == "") return propertyName;
+            else return $"{bindingPath}.{propertyName}";
+        }
+        
         private void BindProperties(object target, bool validate, string bindingPath = null)
-        { 
-            bindingPath = bindingPath ?? _bindingPath;
-
+        {
             foreach (var property in target.GetType().GetProperties())
             {
                 try
@@ -89,12 +86,12 @@ private void BindProperties(object target, bool validate, string bindingPath = n
                     if (propertyIsReadonly 
                         || property.PropertyType.IsAbstract 
                         || property.PropertyType.IsInterface) continue;
-                    
-                    var name = String.IsNullOrEmpty(bindingPath?.Trim()) ? property.Name : $"{bindingPath}.{property.Name}";
+
+                    var name = Combine(bindingPath, property.PropertyType.Name, property.Name);
                     var defaultValue = property.GetValue(target);
                     var required = validate && defaultValue is null; 
                     var result = GetPropertyValue(property, name, required);
-                    property.SetValue(target, result);
+                    if (result != null) property.SetValue(target, result);
                 }
                 catch (TargetInvocationException ex)
                 {
@@ -165,11 +162,8 @@ public bool TryGet<T>(string key, out T result)
         /// <summary>
         /// This is where the actual retrieval and type conversion happens
         /// </summary>
-        private object Get(Type propertyType, string propertyName)
+        private object Get(Type propertyType, string key)
         {
-            var key = propertyName;
-            if (_bindingPath.Length > 0) key = _bindingPath +  "." + key;
-
             if (!SettingsDictionary.TryGetValue(key, out string value))
             {
                 throw new KeyNotFoundException(key);
diff --git a/Fig.Tests/BindToNullablePropertiesTests.cs b/Fig.Tests/BindToNullablePropertiesTests.cs
index d21bff5..8b652f0 100644
--- a/Fig.Tests/BindToNullablePropertiesTests.cs
+++ b/Fig.Tests/BindToNullablePropertiesTests.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 using System;
-using System.Globalization;
 using NUnit.Framework;
 
 namespace Fig.Test;
diff --git a/Fig.Tests/BindingBehavior.cs b/Fig.Tests/BindingBehavior.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..379f380
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Fig.Tests/BindingBehavior.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+namespace Fig.Test;
+
+public class BindingBehavior
+{
+    [Test]
+    public void EmptyPathBindsToRoot()
+    {
+        var settings = new SettingsBuilder()
+            .UseSettingsDictionary(new SettingsDictionary()
+            {
+                {"Hello", "Hi"},
+                {"Number", "16"},
+                {"OtherNumber", "16"}
+            }).Build();
+
+        var settingsWithDefaults = settings.Bind<SettingsWithDefaults>(path:"");
+        Assert.AreEqual(settingsWithDefaults.Hello, "Hi");
+        Assert.AreEqual(settingsWithDefaults.Number, 16);
+        Assert.AreEqual(settingsWithDefaults.OtherNumber, 16);
+        
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void CanBindToNullableProperties()
+    {
+        //empty dictionary
+        var settings = new SettingsBuilder().Build();
+        var settingsWithDefaults = settings.Bind<SettingsWithDefaults>();
+        
+        Assert.AreEqual(settingsWithDefaults.Hello, "Hello");
+        Assert.AreEqual(settingsWithDefaults.Number, 42);
+        Assert.AreEqual(settingsWithDefaults.OtherNumber, 42);
+    }
+
+    private class SettingsWithDefaults
+    {
+        public int Number { get; set; } = 42;
+        public string Hello { get; set; } = nameof(Hello);
+
+        public int? OtherNumber { get; set; } = 42;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file