diff --git a/src/app/config/confparse.c b/src/app/config/confparse.c
index b086f8c94a..c7ee8f3010 100644
--- a/src/app/config/confparse.c
+++ b/src/app/config/confparse.c
@@ -169,6 +169,16 @@ config_mgr_get_obj(const config_mgr_t *mgr, const void *toplevel, int idx)
   return config_mgr_get_obj_mutable(mgr, (void*)toplevel, idx);
 }
 
+/** Sorting helper for smartlist of managed_var_t */
+static int
+managed_var_cmp(const void **a, const void **b)
+{
+  const managed_var_t *mv1 = *(const managed_var_t**)a;
+  const managed_var_t *mv2 = *(const managed_var_t**)b;
+
+  return strcasecmp(mv1->cvar->member.name, mv2->cvar->member.name);
+}
+
 /**
  * Mark a configuration manager as "frozen", so that no more formats can be
  * added, and so that it can be used for manipulating configuration objects.
@@ -176,6 +186,7 @@ config_mgr_get_obj(const config_mgr_t *mgr, const void *toplevel, int idx)
 void
 config_mgr_freeze(config_mgr_t *mgr)
 {
+  smartlist_sort(mgr->all_vars, managed_var_cmp);
   mgr->frozen = true;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/test/test_confparse.c b/src/test/test_confparse.c
index 716384e2f6..1513c9323b 100644
--- a/src/test/test_confparse.c
+++ b/src/test/test_confparse.c
@@ -527,78 +527,77 @@ test_confparse_dump(void *arg)
   /* Minimal version. */
   dumped = config_dump(mgr, NULL, tst, 1, 0);
   tt_str_op(dumped, OP_EQ,
-            "s this is a\n"
-            "fn /simple/test of the\n"
-            "pos 77\n"
-            "i 3\n"
-            "u64 1000000000000\n"
-            "interval 300\n"
-            "msec_interval 300000\n"
-            "mem 10\n"
-            "dbl 6.060842\n"
-            "boolean 1\n"
             "autobool 0\n"
-            "time 2019-06-14 13:58:51\n"
+            "boolean 1\n"
             "csv configuration,parsing,system\n"
             "csv_interval 10\n"
+            "dbl 6.060842\n"
+            "fn /simple/test of the\n"
+            "i 3\n"
+            "interval 300\n"
             "lines hello\n"
             "lines world\n"
+            "mem 10\n"
+            "VisibleLineB ABC\n"
             "LineTypeA i d\n"
             "LineTypeB i c\n"
+            "msec_interval 300000\n"
+            "pos 77\n"
             "routerset $FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF\n"
-            "VisibleLineB ABC\n");
+            "s this is a\n"
+            "time 2019-06-14 13:58:51\n"
+            "u64 1000000000000\n");
 
-  /* Maximal */
   tor_free(dumped);
   dumped = config_dump(mgr, NULL, tst, 0, 0);
   tt_str_op(dumped, OP_EQ,
-            "s this is a\n"
-            "fn /simple/test of the\n"
-            "pos 77\n"
-            "i 3\n"
-            "deprecated_int 3\n"
-            "u64 1000000000000\n"
-            "interval 300\n"
-            "msec_interval 300000\n"
-            "mem 10\n"
-            "dbl 6.060842\n"
-            "boolean 1\n"
             "autobool 0\n"
-            "time 2019-06-14 13:58:51\n"
+            "boolean 1\n"
             "csv configuration,parsing,system\n"
             "csv_interval 10\n"
+            "dbl 6.060842\n"
+            "deprecated_int 3\n"
+            "fn /simple/test of the\n"
+            "i 3\n"
+            "interval 300\n"
             "lines hello\n"
             "lines world\n"
+            "mem 10\n"
+            "VisibleLineB ABC\n"
             "LineTypeA i d\n"
             "LineTypeB i c\n"
+            "msec_interval 300000\n"
+            "pos 77\n"
             "routerset $FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF\n"
-            "VisibleLineB ABC\n");
+            "s this is a\n"
+            "time 2019-06-14 13:58:51\n"
+            "u64 1000000000000\n");
 
   /* commented */
   tor_free(dumped);
   dumped = config_dump(mgr, NULL, tst, 0, 1);
   tt_str_op(dumped, OP_EQ,
-            "s this is a\n"
-            "fn /simple/test of the\n"
-            "pos 77\n"
-            "i 3\n"
-            "# deprecated_int 3\n"
-            "u64 1000000000000\n"
-            "interval 300\n"
-            "msec_interval 300000\n"
-            "mem 10\n"
-            "dbl 6.060842\n"
-            "boolean 1\n"
             "autobool 0\n"
-            "time 2019-06-14 13:58:51\n"
+            "boolean 1\n"
             "csv configuration,parsing,system\n"
             "csv_interval 10\n"
+            "dbl 6.060842\n"
+            "# deprecated_int 3\n"
+            "fn /simple/test of the\n"
+            "i 3\n"
+            "interval 300\n"
             "lines hello\n"
             "lines world\n"
+            "mem 10\n"
+            "VisibleLineB ABC\n"
             "LineTypeA i d\n"
             "LineTypeB i c\n"
+            "msec_interval 300000\n"
+            "pos 77\n"
             "routerset $FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF\n"
-                        "VisibleLineB ABC\n");
+            "s this is a\n"
+            "time 2019-06-14 13:58:51\n"
+            "u64 1000000000000\n");
 
  done:
   config_free(mgr, tst);