diff --git a/src/nm-config-data.c b/src/nm-config-data.c
index 03d381106..8683696e8 100644
--- a/src/nm-config-data.c
+++ b/src/nm-config-data.c
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 
 #include "nm-config-data.h"
 
+#include "nm-config.h"
+
 typedef struct {
 	char *config_main_file;
 	char *config_description;
@@ -91,6 +93,34 @@ nm_config_data_get_connectivity_response (const NMConfigData *self)
 }
 
 
+/************************************************************************/
+
+GHashTable *
+nm_config_data_diff (NMConfigData *old_data, NMConfigData *new_data)
+{
+	GHashTable *changes;
+
+	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_CONFIG_DATA (old_data), NULL);
+	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_CONFIG_DATA (new_data), NULL);
+
+	changes = g_hash_table_new (g_str_hash, g_str_equal);
+
+	if (   g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_config_main_file (old_data), nm_config_data_get_config_main_file (new_data)) != 0
+	    || g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_config_description (old_data), nm_config_data_get_config_description (new_data)) != 0)
+		g_hash_table_insert (changes, NM_CONFIG_CHANGES_CONFIG_FILES, NULL);
+
+	if (   nm_config_data_get_connectivity_interval (old_data) != nm_config_data_get_connectivity_interval (new_data)
+	    || g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_connectivity_uri (old_data), nm_config_data_get_connectivity_uri (new_data))
+	    || g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_connectivity_response (old_data), nm_config_data_get_connectivity_response (new_data)))
+		g_hash_table_insert (changes, NM_CONFIG_CHANGES_CONNECTIVITY, NULL);
+
+	if (!g_hash_table_size (changes)) {
+		g_hash_table_destroy (changes);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	return changes;
+}
+
 /************************************************************************/
 
 static void
diff --git a/src/nm-config-data.h b/src/nm-config-data.h
index c690f08b9..cd6313cdf 100644
--- a/src/nm-config-data.h
+++ b/src/nm-config-data.h
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ NMConfigData *nm_config_data_new (const char *config_main_file,
                                   const char *config_description,
                                   GKeyFile *keyfile);
 
+GHashTable *nm_config_data_diff (NMConfigData *old_data, NMConfigData *new_data);
+
 const char *nm_config_data_get_config_main_file (const NMConfigData *config_data);
 const char *nm_config_data_get_config_description (const NMConfigData *config_data);
 
diff --git a/src/nm-config.c b/src/nm-config.c
index 6fb733513..0eb3c08b7 100644
--- a/src/nm-config.c
+++ b/src/nm-config.c
@@ -721,28 +721,10 @@ nm_config_reload (NMConfig *self)
 	g_free (config_description);
 	g_key_file_free (keyfile);
 
-
-	changes = g_hash_table_new (g_str_hash, g_str_equal);
-
-	/* reloading configuration means we have to carefully check every single option
-	 * that we want to support and take specific actions. */
-
 	old_data = priv->config_data;
-	if (   nm_config_data_get_connectivity_interval (old_data) != nm_config_data_get_connectivity_interval (new_data)
-	    || g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_connectivity_uri (old_data), nm_config_data_get_connectivity_uri (new_data))
-	    || g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_connectivity_response (old_data), nm_config_data_get_connectivity_response (new_data))) {
-		nm_log_dbg (LOGD_CORE, "config: reload: change '" NM_CONFIG_CHANGES_CONNECTIVITY "'");
-		g_hash_table_insert (changes, NM_CONFIG_CHANGES_CONNECTIVITY, NULL);
-	}
+	changes = nm_config_data_diff (old_data, new_data);
 
-	if (   g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_config_main_file (old_data), nm_config_data_get_config_main_file (new_data)) != 0
-	    || g_strcmp0 (nm_config_data_get_config_description (old_data), nm_config_data_get_config_description (new_data)) != 0) {
-		nm_log_dbg (LOGD_CORE, "config: reload: change '" NM_CONFIG_CHANGES_CONFIG_FILES "'");
-		g_hash_table_insert (changes, NM_CONFIG_CHANGES_CONFIG_FILES, NULL);
-	}
-
-	if (!g_hash_table_size (changes)) {
-		g_hash_table_destroy (changes);
+	if (!changes) {
 		g_object_unref (new_data);
 		return;
 	}