diff --git a/src/pipewire/conf.c b/src/pipewire/conf.c
index a70b8aa35..a7f3d175d 100644
--- a/src/pipewire/conf.c
+++ b/src/pipewire/conf.c
@@ -891,6 +891,51 @@ static int update_props(void *user_data, const char *location, const char *key,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int try_load_conf(const char *conf_prefix, const char *conf_name,
+			 struct pw_properties *conf)
+{
+	int res;
+
+	if (conf_name == NULL)
+		return -EINVAL;
+	if (spa_streq(conf_name, "null"))
+		return 0;
+	if ((res = pw_conf_load_conf(conf_prefix, conf_name, conf)) < 0) {
+		bool skip_prefix = conf_prefix == NULL || conf_name[0] == '/';
+		pw_log_warn("can't load config %s%s%s: %s",
+				skip_prefix ? "" : conf_prefix,
+				skip_prefix ? "" : "/",
+				conf_name, spa_strerror(res));
+	}
+	return res;
+}
+
+SPA_EXPORT
+int pw_conf_load_conf_for_context(struct pw_properties *props, struct pw_properties *conf)
+{
+	const char *conf_prefix, *conf_name;
+	int res;
+
+	conf_prefix = getenv("PIPEWIRE_CONFIG_PREFIX");
+	if (conf_prefix == NULL)
+		conf_prefix = pw_properties_get(props, PW_KEY_CONFIG_PREFIX);
+
+	conf_name = getenv("PIPEWIRE_CONFIG_NAME");
+	if ((res = try_load_conf(conf_prefix, conf_name, conf)) < 0) {
+		conf_name = pw_properties_get(props, PW_KEY_CONFIG_NAME);
+		if ((res = try_load_conf(conf_prefix, conf_name, conf)) < 0) {
+			conf_name = "client.conf";
+			if ((res = try_load_conf(conf_prefix, conf_name, conf)) < 0) {
+				pw_log_error("can't load default config %s: %s",
+					conf_name, spa_strerror(res));
+				return res;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return res;
+}
+
 SPA_EXPORT
 int pw_context_conf_update_props(struct pw_context *context,
 		const char *section, struct pw_properties *props)
diff --git a/src/pipewire/conf.h b/src/pipewire/conf.h
index 459b3b6a8..f5c8ba06b 100644
--- a/src/pipewire/conf.h
+++ b/src/pipewire/conf.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
  * \{
  */
 
+int pw_conf_load_conf_for_context(struct pw_properties *props, struct pw_properties *conf);
 int pw_conf_load_conf(const char *prefix, const char *name, struct pw_properties *conf);
 int pw_conf_load_state(const char *prefix, const char *name, struct pw_properties *conf);
 int pw_conf_save_state(const char *prefix, const char *name, const struct pw_properties *conf);
diff --git a/src/pipewire/context.c b/src/pipewire/context.c
index 24e754e1b..69201ab82 100644
--- a/src/pipewire/context.c
+++ b/src/pipewire/context.c
@@ -101,26 +101,6 @@ static void fill_properties(struct pw_context *context)
 	pw_properties_set(properties, PW_KEY_CORE_NAME, context->core->info.name);
 }
 
-static int try_load_conf(struct pw_context *this, const char *conf_prefix,
-		const char *conf_name, struct pw_properties *conf)
-{
-	int res;
-
-	if (conf_name == NULL)
-		return -EINVAL;
-	if (spa_streq(conf_name, "null"))
-		return 0;
-	if ((res = pw_conf_load_conf(conf_prefix, conf_name, conf)) < 0) {
-		bool skip_prefix = conf_prefix == NULL || conf_name[0] == '/';
-		pw_log_warn("%p: can't load config %s%s%s: %s",
-				this,
-				skip_prefix ? "" : conf_prefix,
-				skip_prefix ? "" : "/",
-				conf_name, spa_strerror(res));
-	}
-	return res;
-}
-
 static int context_set_freewheel(struct pw_context *context, bool freewheel)
 {
 	struct spa_thread *thr;
@@ -211,7 +191,7 @@ struct pw_context *pw_context_new(struct pw_loop *main_loop,
 {
 	struct impl *impl;
 	struct pw_context *this;
-	const char *lib, *str, *conf_prefix, *conf_name;
+	const char *lib, *str;
 	void *dbus_iface = NULL;
 	uint32_t n_support;
 	struct pw_properties *pr, *conf;
@@ -270,23 +250,8 @@ struct pw_context *pw_context_new(struct pw_loop *main_loop,
 		goto error_free;
 	}
 	this->conf = conf;
-
-	conf_prefix = getenv("PIPEWIRE_CONFIG_PREFIX");
-	if (conf_prefix == NULL)
-		conf_prefix = pw_properties_get(properties, PW_KEY_CONFIG_PREFIX);
-
-	conf_name = getenv("PIPEWIRE_CONFIG_NAME");
-	if (try_load_conf(this, conf_prefix, conf_name, conf) < 0) {
-		conf_name = pw_properties_get(properties, PW_KEY_CONFIG_NAME);
-		if (try_load_conf(this, conf_prefix, conf_name, conf) < 0) {
-			conf_name = "client.conf";
-			if ((res = try_load_conf(this, conf_prefix, conf_name, conf)) < 0) {
-				pw_log_error("%p: can't load config %s: %s",
-					this, conf_name, spa_strerror(res));
-				goto error_free;
-			}
-		}
-	}
+	if ((res = pw_conf_load_conf_for_context (properties, conf)) < 0)
+		goto error_free;
 
 	n_support = pw_get_support(this->support, SPA_N_ELEMENTS(this->support) - 6);
 	cpu = spa_support_find(this->support, n_support, SPA_TYPE_INTERFACE_CPU);