diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-bootconfig-parser.c b/src/libostree/ostree-bootconfig-parser.c
index 25da6657da..0c359d4192 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-bootconfig-parser.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-bootconfig-parser.c
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ write_key (OstreeBootconfigParser    *self,
            const char                *key,
            const char                *value)
 {
+  g_print ("write_key: buff %s, key %s\n", buf->str, key);
   g_string_append (buf, key);
   g_string_append_c (buf, self->separators[0]);
   g_string_append (buf, value);
@@ -185,6 +186,8 @@ ostree_bootconfig_parser_write_at (OstreeBootconfigParser   *self,
       write_key (self, buf, k, v);
     }
 
+  g_print("ostree_bootconfig_parser_write_at: path %s, contents %s\n", path, (guint8*)buf->str);
+
   if (!glnx_file_replace_contents_at (dfd, path, (guint8*)buf->str, buf->len,
                                       GLNX_FILE_REPLACE_NODATASYNC,
                                       cancellable, error))
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
index f8bb705380..1c85f1c301 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
@@ -2578,7 +2578,6 @@ deployment_get_kargs_config_contents (OstreeSysroot     *self,
 {
   glnx_autofd int deployment_dfd = -1;
   g_autofree char *deployment_path = ostree_sysroot_get_deployment_dirpath (self, deployment);
-  g_print ("deployment_path: %s\n", deployment_path);
   if (!glnx_opendirat (self->sysroot_fd, deployment_path, TRUE,
                        &deployment_dfd, error))
     return FALSE;
@@ -2603,7 +2602,6 @@ deployment_get_kargs_config_contents (OstreeSysroot     *self,
     {
       ret_contents = g_strdup ("");
     }
-  ret_contents = g_strstrip (ret_contents);
 
   *contents_out = g_steal_pointer (&ret_contents);
 
@@ -2625,9 +2623,8 @@ deployment_merge_opts (OstreeSysroot     *self,
                                              &kargs_config_contents,
                                              cancellable, error))
     return FALSE;
-  g_print ("kargs_config_contents: %s\n", kargs_config_contents);
+  kargs_config_contents = g_strstrip (kargs_config_contents);
   g_ptr_array_add (kargs_configs, g_steal_pointer (&kargs_config_contents));
-  g_print ("revision: %s\n", revision);
   g_autoptr(GFile) root = NULL;
   if (!ostree_repo_read_commit (ostree_sysroot_repo (self), revision, &root,
                                 NULL, cancellable, error))
@@ -2647,7 +2644,7 @@ deployment_merge_opts (OstreeSysroot     *self,
           return FALSE;
         }
     }
-  g_print ("kargs_config_contents: %s\n", kargs_config_contents);
+  kargs_config_contents = g_strstrip (kargs_config_contents);
   g_ptr_array_add (kargs_configs, g_steal_pointer (&kargs_config_contents));
 
   g_autoptr(OstreeKernelArgs) kargs = _ostree_kernel_args_new ();
@@ -2674,15 +2671,12 @@ sysroot_finalize_deployment (OstreeSysroot     *self,
   glnx_autofd int deployment_dfd = -1;
   if (!glnx_opendirat (self->sysroot_fd, deployment_path, TRUE, &deployment_dfd, error))
     return FALSE;
-  
-  g_print ("deployment_path: %s\n", deployment_path);
 
   /* If we didn't get an override in this deployment, decide whether to copy
    * kargs directly from the merge deployment, or regenerate kargs from the
    * config files present in the merge deployment. */
   if (!override_kernel_argv)
     {
-      g_print ("in !override_kernel_argv\n");
       OstreeBootconfigParser *merge_bootconfig = NULL;
       gboolean kargs_overridden = FALSE;
       if (merge_deployment)
@@ -2695,7 +2689,6 @@ sysroot_finalize_deployment (OstreeSysroot     *self,
 
       if (kargs_overridden)
         {
-          g_print ("in kargs_overridden\n");
           /* Copy kargs from the merge deployment. */
           g_assert (merge_bootconfig);
           const char *opts = ostree_bootconfig_parser_get (merge_bootconfig, "options");
@@ -2703,7 +2696,6 @@ sysroot_finalize_deployment (OstreeSysroot     *self,
         }
       else
         {
-          g_print ("in !kargs_overridden\n");
           /* Regenerate kargs from merge deployment config. */
           g_autofree char *opts = NULL;
           if (merge_deployment)
@@ -2796,7 +2788,6 @@ ostree_sysroot_deploy_tree (OstreeSysroot     *self,
                             GCancellable      *cancellable,
                             GError           **error)
 {
-  g_print ("in ostree_sysroot_deploy_tree\n");
   g_autoptr(OstreeDeployment) deployment = NULL;
   if (!sysroot_initialize_deployment (self, osname, revision, origin, override_kernel_argv,
                                       &deployment, cancellable, error))
diff --git a/tests/test-admin-deploy-karg-default.sh b/tests/test-admin-deploy-karg-default.sh
index 449785e61c..dc680ee294 100755
--- a/tests/test-admin-deploy-karg-default.sh
+++ b/tests/test-admin-deploy-karg-default.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ assert_has_dir sysroot/boot/ostree/testos-${bootcsum}
 
 # Commit to and deploy a repo that has a default kargs file.
 mkdir -p osdata/usr/lib/ostree-boot
-os_tree_write_file "usr/lib/ostree-boot/kargs" "FOO=USR_1 MOO=USR_2 WOO=USR_3 ostree=yay"
+os_tree_write_file "usr/lib/ostree-boot/kargs" "FOO=USR_1 MOO=USR_2 WOO=USR_3"
 os_repository_commit "testos-repo" "1"
 
 ${CMD_PREFIX} ostree --repo=sysroot/ostree/repo remote add --set=gpg-verify=false testos file://$(pwd)/testos-repo testos/buildmaster/x86_64-runtime