diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a9fc7dd2..1abd6869 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ vet:
 	go vet ./...
 
 test-it:
-	go test -v ./... -ldflags="-X 'github.com/hpcng/warewulf/internal/pkg/config.ConfigFile=$(shell pwd)/etc/warewulf.conf'"
+	go test -v ./...
 
 # Generate test coverage
 test-cover:     ## Run test coverage and generate html report
@@ -219,13 +219,12 @@ init:
 wwctl: $(WWCTL_DEPS)
 	@echo Building "$@"
 	@cd cmd/wwctl; GOOS=linux go build -mod vendor -tags "$(WW_GO_BUILD_TAGS)" \
-	-ldflags "-X 'github.com/hpcng/warewulf/internal/pkg/config.ConfigFile=$(SYSCONFDIR)/warewulf/warewulf.conf'" \
 	-o ../../wwctl
 
 wwclient: $(WWCLIENT_DEPS)
 	@echo Building "$@"
-	@cd cmd/wwclient; CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -mod vendor -a -ldflags "-extldflags -static \
-	 -X 'github.com/hpcng/warewulf/internal/pkg/config.ConfigFile=/etc/warewulf/warewulf.conf'" -o ../../wwclient
+	@cd cmd/wwclient; CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -mod vendor -a -ldflags "-extldflags -static" \
+	-o ../../wwclient
 
 man_pages: wwctl
 	@install -d man_pages
@@ -235,7 +234,7 @@ man_pages: wwctl
 	@cd man_pages; for i in wwctl*1 *.5; do gzip --force $$i; echo -n "$$i "; done; echo
 
 update_configuration: vendor cmd/update_configuration/update_configuration.go
-	cd cmd/update_configuration && go build -ldflags="-X 'github.com/hpcng/warewulf/internal/pkg/config.ConfigFile=./etc/warewulf.conf'\
+	cd cmd/update_configuration && go build \
 	 -X 'github.com/hpcng/warewulf/internal/pkg/node.ConfigFile=./etc/nodes.conf'"\
 	 -mod vendor -tags "$(WW_GO_BUILD_TAGS)" -o ../../update_configuration
 
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go
index 2d5afc3a..ab3c880f 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ WW_INTERNAL: 0
     `
 
 	conf := warewulfconf.Get()
-	err := conf.Read([]byte(conf_yml))
+	err := conf.Parse([]byte(conf_yml))
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	warewulfd.SetNoDaemon()
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/node/add/main_test.go b/internal/app/wwctl/node/add/main_test.go
index 95b14873..f0c7e7df 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/node/add/main_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/node/add/main_test.go
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ nodes:
 	_, warewulfConfErr = tempWarewulfConf.Write([]byte(conf_yml))
 	assert.NoError(t, warewulfConfErr)
 	assert.NoError(t, tempWarewulfConf.Sync())
-	warewulfconf.ConfigFile = tempWarewulfConf.Name()
+	warewulfconf.New().Read(tempWarewulfConf.Name())
 
 	nodes_yml := `WW_INTERNAL: 43`
 	tempNodeConf, nodesConfErr := os.CreateTemp("", "nodes.conf-")
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/node/list/main_test.go b/internal/app/wwctl/node/list/main_test.go
index 4178f2b0..ebd1ac3b 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/node/list/main_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/node/list/main_test.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ nodes:
 	_, warewulfConfErr = tempWarewulfConf.Write([]byte(conf_yml))
 	assert.NoError(t, warewulfConfErr)
 	assert.NoError(t, tempWarewulfConf.Sync())
-	warewulfconf.ConfigFile = tempWarewulfConf.Name()
+	warewulfconf.New().Read(tempWarewulfConf.Name())
 
 	tempNodeConf, nodesConfErr := os.CreateTemp("", "nodes.conf-")
 	assert.NoError(t, nodesConfErr)
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/profile/list/main_test.go b/internal/app/wwctl/profile/list/main_test.go
index 4f4efad3..00f6144f 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/profile/list/main_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/profile/list/main_test.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ nodes:
 	_, warewulfConfErr = tempWarewulfConf.Write([]byte(conf_yml))
 	assert.NoError(t, warewulfConfErr)
 	assert.NoError(t, tempWarewulfConf.Sync())
-	warewulfconf.ConfigFile = tempWarewulfConf.Name()
+	warewulfconf.New().Read(tempWarewulfConf.Name())
 
 	tempNodeConf, nodesConfErr := os.CreateTemp("", "nodes.conf-")
 	assert.NoError(t, nodesConfErr)
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/root.go b/internal/app/wwctl/root.go
index 4d40ccde..282615b2 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/root.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/root.go
@@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ func rootPersistentPreRunE(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 	conf := warewulfconf.Get()
 	if !AllowEmptyConf && !conf.InitializedFromFile() {
 		if WarewulfConfArg != "" {
-			err = conf.ReadConf(WarewulfConfArg)
+			err = conf.Read(WarewulfConfArg)
 		} else if os.Getenv("WAREWULFCONF") != "" {
-			err = conf.ReadConf(os.Getenv("WAREWULFCONF"))
+			err = conf.Read(os.Getenv("WAREWULFCONF"))
 		} else {
-			err = conf.ReadConf(warewulfconf.ConfigFile)
+			err = conf.Read(warewulfconf.ConfigFile)
 		}
 	} else {
 		err = conf.SetDynamicDefaults()
diff --git a/internal/pkg/config/buildconfig.go.in b/internal/pkg/config/buildconfig.go.in
index eae1071f..5316e518 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/config/buildconfig.go.in
+++ b/internal/pkg/config/buildconfig.go.in
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
+var ConfigFile = "@SYSCONFDIR@/warewulf/warewulf.conf"
+
 type BuildConfig struct {
 	Bindir         string `default:"@BINDIR@"`
 	Sysconfdir     string `default:"@SYSCONFDIR@"`
diff --git a/internal/pkg/config/root.go b/internal/pkg/config/root.go
index 374f7d7c..89e418e0 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/config/root.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/config/root.go
@@ -21,10 +21,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 
-var (
-	cachedConf RootConf
-	ConfigFile string
-)
+var cachedConf RootConf
 
 
 // RootConf is the main Warewulf configuration structure. It stores
@@ -50,65 +47,67 @@ type RootConf struct {
 }
 
 
-// New returns a [RootConf] initialized with empty values.
-func New() (conf RootConf) {
-	conf.Warewulf = new(WarewulfConf)
-	conf.Dhcp = new(DhcpConf)
-	conf.Tftp = new(TftpConf)
-	conf.Nfs = new(NfsConf)
-	conf.Paths = new(BuildConfig)
-	_ = defaults.Set(&conf)
-	return
+// New caches and returns a new [RootConf] initialized with empty
+// values, clearing replacing any previously cached value.
+func New() (*RootConf) {
+	cachedConf = RootConf{}
+	cachedConf.fromFile = false
+	cachedConf.Warewulf = new(WarewulfConf)
+	cachedConf.Dhcp = new(DhcpConf)
+	cachedConf.Tftp = new(TftpConf)
+	cachedConf.Nfs = new(NfsConf)
+	cachedConf.Paths = new(BuildConfig)
+	if err := defaults.Set(&cachedConf); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return &cachedConf
 }
 
 
-// Get returns a [RootConf] which may have been cached from a previous
-// call.
-func Get() (RootConf) {
+// Get returns a previously cached [RootConf] if it exists, or returns
+// a new RootConf.
+func Get() (*RootConf) {
 	// NOTE: This function can be called before any log level is set
 	//       so using wwlog.Verbose or wwlog.Debug won't work
 	if reflect.ValueOf(cachedConf).IsZero() {
-		cachedConf = New()
-		cachedConf.fromFile = false
+		cachedConf = *New()
 	}
-	return cachedConf
+	return &cachedConf
 }
 
 
 // ReadConf populates [RootConf] with the values from a configuration
 // file.
-func (conf *RootConf) ReadConf(confFileName string) (err error) {
+func (conf *RootConf) Read(confFileName string) (error) {
 	wwlog.Debug("Reading warewulf.conf from: %s", confFileName)
-	fileHandle, err := os.ReadFile(confFileName)
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(confFileName)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return conf.Read(fileHandle)
+	return conf.Parse(data)
 }
 
 
 // Read populates [RootConf] with the values from a yaml document.
-func (conf *RootConf) Read(data []byte) (err error) {
+func (conf *RootConf) Parse(data []byte) (error) {
 	// ipxe binaries are merged not overwritten, store defaults separate
 	defIpxe := make(map[string]string)
 	for k, v := range conf.Tftp.IpxeBinaries {
 		defIpxe[k] = v
 		delete(conf.Tftp.IpxeBinaries, k)
 	}
-	err = yaml.Unmarshal(data, &conf)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, &conf); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	err = conf.SetDynamicDefaults()
-	if err != nil {
-		return
+	if err := conf.SetDynamicDefaults(); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 	if len(conf.Tftp.IpxeBinaries) == 0 {
 		conf.Tftp.IpxeBinaries = defIpxe
 	}
 	cachedConf = *conf
 	cachedConf.fromFile = true
-	return
+	return nil
 }
 
 
@@ -185,29 +184,3 @@ func (conf *RootConf) SetDynamicDefaults() (err error) {
 func (conf *RootConf) InitializedFromFile() bool {
 	return conf.fromFile
 }
-
-
-// Persist writes [RootConf] to a file as a yaml document.
-func (controller *RootConf) Persist() error {
-
-	out, err := yaml.Marshal(controller)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	file, err := os.OpenFile(ConfigFile, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0644)
-	if err != nil {
-		wwlog.Error("%s", err)
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-
-	defer file.Close()
-
-	_, err = file.WriteString(string(out)+"\n")
-	if err != nil {
-		wwlog.Error("Unable to write to warewulf.conf")
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}