diff --git a/include/sway/config.h b/include/sway/config.h
index d9f561571..17b7a5735 100644
--- a/include/sway/config.h
+++ b/include/sway/config.h
@@ -710,6 +710,14 @@ void sort_output_configs_by_priority(struct matched_output_config *configs,
  */
 void store_output_config(struct output_config *oc);
 
+/**
+ * Store a temporary output config that will not be merged for testing
+ * purposes. This must be removed again after test, before any calls to
+ * store_output_config that could result in merge with the temporary config.
+ */
+void store_temp_output_config(struct output_config *oc);
+void remove_temp_output_config(struct output_config *oc);
+
 struct output_config *find_output_config(struct sway_output *output);
 
 void free_output_config(struct output_config *oc);
diff --git a/sway/config/output.c b/sway/config/output.c
index aa8504ed2..61148ab85 100644
--- a/sway/config/output.c
+++ b/sway/config/output.c
@@ -218,6 +218,19 @@ static void merge_output_config(struct output_config *dst, struct output_config
 	}
 }
 
+void remove_temp_output_config(struct output_config *oc) {
+	size_t idx = list_find(config->output_configs, oc);
+	if (idx) {
+		list_del(config->output_configs, idx);
+	}
+}
+
+void store_temp_output_config(struct output_config *oc) {
+	// Add it directly so the config can be removed later
+	list_add(config->output_configs, oc);
+	return;
+}
+
 void store_output_config(struct output_config *oc) {
 	bool merged = false;
 	bool wildcard = strcmp(oc->name, "*") == 0;