diff --git a/src/tests/parse_config_file.c b/src/tests/parse_config_file.c
index eaa462178..509370615 100644
--- a/src/tests/parse_config_file.c
+++ b/src/tests/parse_config_file.c
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@
 #include "lxc/state.h"
 #include "lxctest.h"
 
-#define MYNAME "lxctest1"
-
-static int set_clear_save_and_load(struct lxc_container *c, const char *key,
-				   const char *value, const char *config_file)
+static int set_get_compare_clear_save_load(struct lxc_container *c,
+					   const char *key, const char *value,
+					   const char *config_file,
+					   bool compare)
 {
 	char retval[4096] = {0};
 	int ret;
@@ -51,6 +51,17 @@ static int set_clear_save_and_load(struct lxc_container *c, const char *key,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	if (compare) {
+		ret = strcmp(retval, value);
+		if (ret != 0) {
+			lxc_error(
+			    "expected value \"%s\" and retrieved value \"%s\" "
+			    "for config key \"%s\" do not match\n",
+			    value, retval, key);
+			return -1;
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (config_file) {
 		if (!c->save_config(c, config_file)) {
 			lxc_error("%s\n", "failed to save config file");
@@ -71,7 +82,7 @@ static int set_clear_save_and_load(struct lxc_container *c, const char *key,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (config_file)  {
+	if (config_file) {
 		if (!c->save_config(c, config_file)) {
 			lxc_error("%s\n", "failed to save config file");
 			return -1;
@@ -114,51 +125,50 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	close(fd);
 
 	/* lxc.arch */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.arch", "x86_64", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.arch", "x86_64", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.arch");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.pts */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.pts", "1000", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.pts", "1000", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.pts");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.tty */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.tty", "4", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.tty", "4", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.tty");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.devttydir */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.devttydir", "not-dev", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.devttydir", "not-dev", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.devttydir");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.kmsg */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.kmsg", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.kmsg", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.kmsg");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.aa_profile */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.aa_profile", "unconfined", tmpf) <
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.aa_profile", "unconfined", tmpf, true) <
 	    0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.aa_profile");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.aa_allow_incomplete */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.aa_allow_incomplete", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.aa_allow_incomplete", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.aa_allow_incomplete");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus", "1-100",
-				    tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus", "1-100", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.cgroup.cpuset.cpus");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
@@ -192,8 +202,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	 * chown the container's directory but we haven't created an on-disk
 	 * container. So let's test set-get-clear.
 	 */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.id_map", "u 0 100000 1000000000",
-				    NULL) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.id_map", "u 0 100000 1000000000",
+				    NULL, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.id_map");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
@@ -219,256 +229,262 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	c->lxc_conf = NULL;
 
 	/* lxc.loglevel */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.loglevel", "debug", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.loglevel", "DEBUG", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.loglevel");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.logfile */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.logfile", "/some/path", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.logfile", "/some/path", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.logfile");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.mount */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.mount", "/some/path", NULL) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.mount", "/some/path", NULL, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.mount");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
-	/* lxc.mount.auto */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.mount.auto", "proc:rw sys:rw cgroup-full:rw", tmpf) < 0) {
+	/* lxc.mount.auto
+	 * Note that we cannot compare the values since the getter for
+	 * lxc.mount.auto does not preserve ordering.
+	 */
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.mount.auto", "proc:rw sys:rw cgroup-full:rw", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.mount.auto");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
-	/* lxc.mount.entry */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(
+	/* lxc.mount.entry
+	 * Note that we cannot compare the values since the getter for
+	 * lxc.mount.entry appends newlines.
+	 */
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(
 		c, "lxc.mount.entry",
-		"/dev/dri dev/dri none bind,optional,create=dir", tmpf) < 0) {
+		"/dev/dri dev/dri none bind,optional,create=dir", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.mount.entry");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.rootfs */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.rootfs", "/some/path", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.rootfs", "/some/path", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.rootfs");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.rootfs.mount */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.rootfs.mount", "/some/path", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.rootfs.mount", "/some/path", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.rootfs.mount");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.rootfs.options */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.rootfs.options", "ext4,discard", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.rootfs.options", "ext4,discard", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.rootfs.options");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.rootfs.backend */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.rootfs.backend", "btrfs", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.rootfs.backend", "btrfs", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.rootfs.backend");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.utsname */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.utsname", "the-shire", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.utsname", "the-shire", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.utsname");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.pre-start */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.pre-start", "/some/pre-start", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.pre-start", "/some/pre-start", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.pre-start");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.pre-mount */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.pre-mount", "/some/pre-mount", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.pre-mount", "/some/pre-mount", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.pre-mount");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.mount */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.mount", "/some/mount", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.mount", "/some/mount", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.mount");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.autodev */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.autodev", "/some/autodev", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.autodev", "/some/autodev", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.autodev");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.start */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.start", "/some/start", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.start", "/some/start", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.start");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.stop */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.stop", "/some/stop", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.stop", "/some/stop", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.stop");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.post-stop */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.post-stop", "/some/post-stop", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.post-stop", "/some/post-stop", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.post-stop");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.clone */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.clone", "/some/clone", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.clone", "/some/clone", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.clone");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.hook.destroy */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.hook.destroy", "/some/destroy", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.hook.destroy", "/some/destroy", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.hook.destroy");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.cap.drop */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.cap.drop", "sys_module mknod setuid net_raw", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.cap.drop", "sys_module mknod setuid net_raw", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.cap.drop");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.cap.keep */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.cap.keep", "sys_module mknod setuid net_raw", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.cap.keep", "sys_module mknod setuid net_raw", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.cap.keep");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.console */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.console", "none", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.console", "none", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.console");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.console.logfile */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.console.logfile", "/some/logfile", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.console.logfile", "/some/logfile", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.console.logfile");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.seccomp */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.seccomp", "/some/seccomp/file", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.seccomp", "/some/seccomp/file", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.seccomp");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.autodev */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.autodev", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.autodev", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.autodev");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.haltsignal */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.haltsignal", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.haltsignal", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.haltsignal");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.rebootsignal */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.rebootsignal", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.rebootsignal", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.rebootsignal");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.stopsignal */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.stopsignal", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.stopsignal", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.stopsignal");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.start.auto */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.start.auto", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.start.auto", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.start.auto");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.start.delay */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.start.delay", "5", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.start.delay", "5", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.start.delay");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.start.order */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.start.order", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.start.order", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.start.order");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.syslog */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.syslog", "local0", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.syslog", "local0", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.syslog");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.utsname */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.utsname", "get-schwifty", tmpf) <
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.utsname", "get-schwifty", tmpf, true) <
 	    0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.utsname");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.monitor.unshare */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.monitor.unshare", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.monitor.unshare", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.monitor.unshare");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.group */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.group", "some,container,groups", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.group", "some,container,groups", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.group");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.environment */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.environment", "FOO=BAR", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.environment", "FOO=BAR", tmpf, false) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.environment");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.init_cmd */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.init_cmd", "/bin/bash", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.init_cmd", "/bin/bash", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.init_cmd");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.init_uid */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.init_uid", "1000", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.init_uid", "1000", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.init_uid");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.init_gid */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.init_gid", "1000", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.init_gid", "1000", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.init_gid");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.ephemeral */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.ephemeral", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.ephemeral", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.ephemeral");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.no_new_privs */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.no_new_privs", "1", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.no_new_privs", "1", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.no_new_privs");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}
 
 	/* lxc.limit.nofile */
-	if (set_clear_save_and_load(c, "lxc.limit.nofile", "65536", tmpf) < 0) {
+	if (set_get_compare_clear_save_load(c, "lxc.limit.nofile", "65536", tmpf, true) < 0) {
 		lxc_error("%s\n", "lxc.limit.nofile");
 		goto non_test_error;
 	}