diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 51ab0f3..5cdd76b 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <err.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -58,10 +59,10 @@
 	struct config_item *item;
 	char *name, *value;
 	char *p, *line;
-	int rc;
 
 	for (p = NULL, line = strtok_r(buf, "\n", &p); line;
 			line = strtok_r(NULL, "\n", &p)) {
+		int rc;
 
 		/* trim leading space */
 		for (;*line == ' ' || *line == '\t'; line++)
@@ -71,10 +72,15 @@
 		if (*line == '#')
 			continue;
 
-		name = value = NULL;
+		name = malloc(strlen(line));
+		value = malloc(strlen(line));
+		if (name && value) {
+			rc = sscanf(line, "%[^ =] = %s ", name, value);
+		} else {
+			rc = -ENOMEM;
+		}
 
-		rc = sscanf(line, "%m[^ =] = %ms ", &name, &value);
-		if (rc != 2 || !strlen(name) || !strlen(value)) {
+		if (rc != 2) {
 			free(name);
 			free(value);
 			continue;
diff --git a/test/Makefile.am b/test/Makefile.am
index 8fc0839..fe17a69 100644
--- a/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/Makefile.am
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@
 	test-ringbuffer-boundary-poll \
 	test-ringbuffer-poll-force \
 	test-config-parse-logsize \
-	test-client-escape
+	test-client-escape \
+	test-config-parse
 
 EXTRA_DIST = ringbuffer-test-utils.c
 
diff --git a/test/test-config-parse.c b/test/test-config-parse.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6392bd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-config-parse.c
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#ifndef SYSCONFDIR
+// Bypass compilation error due to -DSYSCONFDIR not provided
+#define SYSCONFDIR
+#endif
+
+#include "config.c"
+
+static void execute_test(const char *input, const char *key, const char *expected)
+{
+	struct config *ctx;
+	const char *found;
+	char *buf;
+
+	ctx = calloc(1, sizeof(*ctx));
+	buf = strdup(input);
+	config_parse(ctx, buf);
+	free(buf);
+	found = config_get_value(ctx, key);
+	if (!expected)
+		assert(!found);
+	if (expected) {
+		assert(found);
+		assert(!strcmp(expected, found));
+	}
+	config_fini(ctx);
+}
+
+static void test_config_parse_basic(void)
+{
+	execute_test("tty = ttyS0", "tty", "ttyS0");
+}
+
+static void test_config_parse_no_key(void)
+{
+	execute_test("= ttyS0", "tty", NULL);
+}
+
+static void test_config_parse_no_value(void)
+{
+	execute_test("tty =", "tty", NULL);
+}
+
+static void test_config_parse_no_operator(void)
+{
+	execute_test("tty ttyS0", "tty", NULL);
+}
+
+static void test_config_parse_no_spaces(void)
+{
+	execute_test("tty=ttyS0", "tty", "ttyS0");
+}
+
+static void test_config_parse_empty(void)
+{
+	execute_test("", "tty", NULL);
+}
+
+int main(void)
+{
+	test_config_parse_basic();
+	test_config_parse_no_key();
+	test_config_parse_no_value();
+	test_config_parse_no_operator();
+	test_config_parse_no_spaces();
+	test_config_parse_empty();
+
+	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+}