diff --git a/webagg/test/testutils.py b/webagg/test/testutils.py
index fc5a0a8a..c9ba5be0 100644
--- a/webagg/test/testutils.py
+++ b/webagg/test/testutils.py
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ class FakeRedisTests(object):
     @classmethod
     def teardown_class(cls):
         super(FakeRedisTests, cls).teardown_class()
+        FakeStrictRedis().flushall()
         cls.redismock.stop()
 
 
diff --git a/webagg/utils.py b/webagg/utils.py
index 6c9121b5..5617d048 100644
--- a/webagg/utils.py
+++ b/webagg/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import re
 import six
 import string
+import yaml
+import os
 
 from contextlib import closing
 
@@ -174,3 +176,25 @@ def chunk_encode_iter(orig_iter):
     yield b'0\r\n\r\n'
 
 
+#=============================================================================
+def load_config(main_env_var, main_default_file='',
+                overlay_env_var='', overlay_file=''):
+
+    configfile = os.environ.get(main_env_var, main_default_file)
+
+    if configfile:
+        # Load config
+        with open(configfile, 'rb') as fh:
+            config = yaml.load(fh)
+
+    else:
+        config = {}
+
+    overlay_configfile = os.environ.get(overlay_env_var, overlay_file)
+
+    if overlay_configfile:
+        with open(overlay_configfile, 'rb') as fh:
+            config.update(yaml.load(fh))
+
+    return config
+