diff --git a/archivebox/config/collection.py b/archivebox/config/collection.py
index 61c03b9b..f80bae2d 100644
--- a/archivebox/config/collection.py
+++ b/archivebox/config/collection.py
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ def write_config_file(config: dict[str, str]) -> AttrDict:
         # validate the updated_config by attempting to re-parse it
         from archivebox.config.common import get_config
 
-        updated_config = get_config().as_dict()
+        updated_config = get_config(include_machine=False).as_dict()
     except BaseException:  # lgtm [py/catch-base-exception]
         # something went horribly wrong, revert to the previous version
         with open(f"{config_path}.bak", encoding="utf-8") as old:
diff --git a/archivebox/tests/test_cli_config.py b/archivebox/tests/test_cli_config.py
index 18ca9215..90ff8c62 100644
--- a/archivebox/tests/test_cli_config.py
+++ b/archivebox/tests/test_cli_config.py
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ def test_config_set_writes_to_file(initialized_archive):
     )
 
     assert result.returncode == 0
+    assert "TIMEOUT=120" in result.stdout
 
     # Verify config file was updated
     config_file = initialized_archive / "ArchiveBox.conf"
@@ -104,12 +105,19 @@ def test_config_set_and_get_roundtrip(initialized_archive):
         ["config", "--set", "TIMEOUT=987"],
     )
 
+    updated = run_archivebox_cmd(
+        ["config", "--set", "TIMEOUT=654"],
+    )
+
+    assert updated.returncode == 0
+    assert "TIMEOUT=654" in updated.stdout
+
     # Get the value back
     result = run_archivebox_cmd(
         ["config", "--get", "TIMEOUT"],
     )
 
-    assert "987" in result.stdout
+    assert "654" in result.stdout
 
 
 def test_config_set_multiple_values(initialized_archive):