diff --git a/awesome.c b/awesome.c
index 2f0213ca..325b7842 100644
--- a/awesome.c
+++ b/awesome.c
@@ -433,6 +433,12 @@ restart_on_signal(gpointer data)
     return TRUE;
 }
 
+static bool
+true_config_callback(const char *unused)
+{
+    return true;
+}
+
 /** Print help and exit(2) with given exit_code.
  * \param exit_code The exit code.
  */
@@ -564,7 +570,22 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     if (run_test)
     {
-        if(!luaA_parserc(&xdg, confpath, false))
+        bool success = true;
+        /* Get the first config that will be tried */
+        const char *config = luaA_find_config(&xdg, confpath, true_config_callback);
+
+        /* Try to parse it */
+        lua_State *L = luaL_newstate();
+        if(luaL_loadfile(L, config))
+        {
+            const char *err = lua_tostring(L, -1);
+            fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", err);
+            success = false;
+        }
+        p_delete(&config);
+        lua_close(L);
+
+        if(!success)
         {
             fprintf(stderr, "✘ Configuration file syntax error.\n");
             return EXIT_FAILURE;
@@ -738,7 +759,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     root_update_wallpaper();
 
     /* Parse and run configuration file */
-    if (!luaA_parserc(&xdg, confpath, true))
+    if (!luaA_parserc(&xdg, confpath))
         fatal("couldn't find any rc file");
 
     p_delete(&confpath);
diff --git a/luaa.c b/luaa.c
index 0f139d65..26e78bdb 100644
--- a/luaa.c
+++ b/luaa.c
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ luaA_startup_error(const char *err)
 }
 
 static bool
-luaA_loadrc(const char *confpath, bool run)
+luaA_loadrc(const char *confpath)
 {
     lua_State *L = globalconf_get_lua_State();
     if(luaL_loadfile(L, confpath))
@@ -816,12 +816,6 @@ luaA_loadrc(const char *confpath, bool run)
         return false;
     }
 
-    if(!run)
-    {
-        lua_pop(L, 1);
-        return true;
-    }
-
     /* Set the conffile right now so it can be used inside the
      * configuration file. */
     conffile = a_strdup(confpath);
@@ -852,21 +846,28 @@ luaA_loadrc(const char *confpath, bool run)
  * \param run Run the configuration file.
  */
 bool
-luaA_parserc(xdgHandle* xdg, const char *confpatharg, bool run)
+luaA_parserc(xdgHandle* xdg, const char *confpatharg)
+{
+    const char *confpath = luaA_find_config(xdg, confpatharg, luaA_loadrc);
+    bool ret = confpath != NULL;
+    p_delete(&confpath);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+/** Find a config file for which the given callback returns true.
+ * \param xdg An xdg handle to use to get XDG basedir.
+ * \param confpatharg The configuration file to load.
+ * \param callback The callback to call.
+ */
+const char *
+luaA_find_config(xdgHandle* xdg, const char *confpatharg, luaA_config_callback *callback)
 {
     char *confpath = NULL;
-    bool ret = false;
 
-    /* try to load, return if it's ok */
-    if(confpatharg)
+    if(confpatharg && callback(confpatharg))
     {
-        if(luaA_loadrc(confpatharg, run))
-        {
-            ret = true;
-            goto bailout;
-        }
-        else if(!run)
-            goto bailout;
+        return a_strdup(confpatharg);
     }
 
     confpath = xdgConfigFind("awesome/rc.lua", xdg);
@@ -876,21 +877,17 @@ luaA_parserc(xdgHandle* xdg, const char *confpatharg, bool run)
     /* confpath is "string1\0string2\0string3\0\0" */
     while(*tmp)
     {
-        if(luaA_loadrc(tmp, run))
+        if(callback(tmp))
         {
-            ret = true;
-            goto bailout;
+            const char *ret = a_strdup(tmp);
+            p_delete(&confpath);
+            return ret;
         }
-        else if(!run)
-            goto bailout;
         tmp += a_strlen(tmp) + 1;
     }
 
-bailout:
-
     p_delete(&confpath);
-
-    return ret;
+    return NULL;
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/luaa.h b/luaa.h
index 01a03ec6..d1420d3d 100644
--- a/luaa.h
+++ b/luaa.h
@@ -303,8 +303,11 @@ luaA_registerfct(lua_State *L, int idx, int *fct)
     return luaA_register(L, idx, fct);
 }
 
+typedef bool luaA_config_callback(const char *);
+
 void luaA_init(xdgHandle *, string_array_t *);
-bool luaA_parserc(xdgHandle *, const char *, bool);
+const char *luaA_find_config(xdgHandle *, const char *, luaA_config_callback *);
+bool luaA_parserc(xdgHandle *, const char *);
 
 /** Global signals */
 signal_array_t global_signals;