diff --git a/README b/README
index 0378ec5ba..604a6b4b4 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -51,6 +51,18 @@ If you'd like to see the available command-line arguments, view the help:
     atticmattic --help
 
 
+Running tests
+-------------
+
+To install test-specific dependencies, first run:
+
+    python setup.py test
+
+To actually run tests, run:
+
+    nosetests --detailed-errors
+
+
 Feedback
 --------
 
diff --git a/atticmatic/tests/__init__.py b/atticmatic/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/atticmatic/tests/unit/__init__.py b/atticmatic/tests/unit/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/atticmatic/tests/unit/test_config.py b/atticmatic/tests/unit/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..93cf509c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/atticmatic/tests/unit/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+from flexmock import flexmock
+from nose.tools import assert_raises
+
+from atticmatic import config as module
+
+
+def insert_mock_parser(section_names):
+    parser = flexmock()
+    parser.should_receive('read')
+    parser.should_receive('sections').and_return(section_names)
+    flexmock(module).SafeConfigParser = parser
+
+    return parser
+
+
+def test_parse_configuration_should_return_config_data():
+    section_names = (module.CONFIG_SECTION_LOCATION, module.CONFIG_SECTION_RETENTION)
+    parser = insert_mock_parser(section_names)
+
+    for section_name in section_names:
+        parser.should_receive('options').with_args(section_name).and_return(
+            module.CONFIG_FORMAT[section_name],
+        )
+
+    expected_config = (
+        module.LocationConfig(flexmock(), flexmock()),
+        module.RetentionConfig(flexmock(), flexmock(), flexmock()),
+    )
+    sections = (
+        (module.CONFIG_SECTION_LOCATION, expected_config[0], 'get'),
+        (module.CONFIG_SECTION_RETENTION, expected_config[1], 'getint'),
+    )
+
+    for section_name, section_config, method_name in sections:
+        for index, option_name in enumerate(module.CONFIG_FORMAT[section_name]):
+            (
+                parser.should_receive(method_name).with_args(section_name, option_name)
+                .and_return(section_config[index])
+            )
+
+    config = module.parse_configuration(flexmock())
+
+    assert config == expected_config
+
+
+def test_parse_configuration_with_missing_section_should_raise():
+    insert_mock_parser((module.CONFIG_SECTION_LOCATION,))
+
+    with assert_raises(ValueError):
+        module.parse_configuration(flexmock())
+
+
+def test_parse_configuration_with_extra_section_should_raise():
+    insert_mock_parser((module.CONFIG_SECTION_LOCATION, module.CONFIG_SECTION_RETENTION, 'extra'))
+
+    with assert_raises(ValueError):
+        module.parse_configuration(flexmock())
+
+
+def test_parse_configuration_with_missing_option_should_raise():
+    section_names = (module.CONFIG_SECTION_LOCATION, module.CONFIG_SECTION_RETENTION)
+    parser = insert_mock_parser(section_names)
+
+    for section_name in section_names:
+        parser.should_receive('options').with_args(section_name).and_return(
+            module.CONFIG_FORMAT[section_name][:-1],
+        )
+
+    with assert_raises(ValueError):
+        module.parse_configuration(flexmock())
+
+
+def test_parse_configuration_with_extra_option_should_raise():
+    section_names = (module.CONFIG_SECTION_LOCATION, module.CONFIG_SECTION_RETENTION)
+    parser = insert_mock_parser(section_names)
+
+    for section_name in section_names:
+        parser.should_receive('options').with_args(section_name).and_return(
+            module.CONFIG_FORMAT[section_name] + ('extra',),
+        )
+
+    with assert_raises(ValueError):
+        module.parse_configuration(flexmock())
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 5ebfca315..209db30cd 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -8,4 +8,8 @@ setup(
     author_email='witten@torsion.org',
     packages=find_packages(),
     entry_points={'console_scripts': ['atticmatic = atticmatic.command:main']},
+    tests_require=(
+        'flexmock',
+        'nose',
+    )
 )