diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index c05aed7c..aaa2e429 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@ jobs:
       - attach_workspace:
           at: /tmp/workspace
       - run:
-          name: test
-          command: ninja -vC /tmp/workspace/build test
+          name: unit test
+          command: ninja -vC build test
+      - run:
+          name: test config file parsing
+          command: xvfb-run -s "-screen 0 640x480x24" build/src/compton --config compton.sample.conf --vsync=none --diagnostics
       - run:
           name: generate coverage reports
           command: cd build; find -name '*.gcno' -exec gcov -pb {} +