diff --git a/tests/integration/cgroups.bats b/tests/integration/cgroups.bats
index 84737eaaf9b..1a7b59fb2f8 100644
--- a/tests/integration/cgroups.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/cgroups.bats
@@ -21,15 +21,7 @@ function setup() {
     set_cgroups_path "$BUSYBOX_BUNDLE"
 
     # Set some initial known values
-    DATA=$(cat <<-EOF
-    "memory": {
-        "kernel": 16777216,
-        "kernelTCP": 11534336
-    },
-EOF
-    )
-    DATA=$(echo ${DATA} | sed 's/\n/\\n/g')
-    sed -i "s/\(\"resources\": {\)/\1\n${DATA}/" ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}/config.json
+    update_config '.linux.resources.memory |= {"kernel": 16777216, "kernelTCP": 11534336}' ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}
 
     # run a detached busybox to work with
     runc run -d --console-socket $CONSOLE_SOCKET test_cgroups_kmem
diff --git a/tests/integration/checkpoint.bats b/tests/integration/checkpoint.bats
index 4418aad061c..3e5cdf10224 100644
--- a/tests/integration/checkpoint.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/checkpoint.bats
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ function teardown() {
 
 function setup_pipes() {
 	# The changes to 'terminal' are needed for running in detached mode
-	sed -i 's;"terminal": true;"terminal": false;' config.json
-	sed -i 's/"sh"/"sh","-c","for i in `seq 10`; do read xxx || continue; echo ponG $xxx; done"/' config.json
+	update_config 	' (.. | select(.terminal? != null)) .terminal |= false
+			| (.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["-c", "for i in `seq 10`; do read xxx || continue; echo ponG $xxx; done"]' 
 
 	# Create two sets of pipes
 	# for stdout/stderr
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ function simple_cr() {
   requires cgroups_v1
 
   # enable CGROUPNS
-  sed -i 's|\("namespaces": \[\)|\1\n\t\t\t{"type": "cgroup"},|' config.json
+  update_config '.linux.namespaces += [{"type": "cgroup"}]' 
 
   simple_cr
 }
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ function simple_cr() {
   setup_pipes
 
   # This should not be necessary: https://github.com/checkpoint-restore/criu/issues/575
-  sed -i 's;"readonly": true;"readonly": false;' config.json
+  update_config '(.. | select(.readonly? != null)) .readonly |= false' 
 
   # TCP port for lazy migration
   port=27277
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ function simple_cr() {
   ns_inode=`ls -iL $ns_path | awk '{ print $1 }'`
 
   # tell runc which network namespace to use
-  sed -i "s;\"type\": \"network\";\"type\": \"network\",\"path\": \"$ns_path\";" config.json
+  update_config '(.. | select(.type? == "network")) .path |= "'"$ns_path"'"'
 
   runc run -d --console-socket $CONSOLE_SOCKET test_busybox
   [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ function simple_cr() {
   tmplog2=`basename $tmplog2`
   # This adds the annotation 'org.criu.config' to set a container
   # specific CRIU config file.
-  sed -i "s;\"process\";\"annotations\":{\"org.criu.config\": \"$tmp\"},\"process\";" config.json
+  update_config '.annotations += {"org.criu.config": "'"$tmp"'"}' 
+
   # Tell CRIU to use another configuration file
   mkdir -p /etc/criu
   echo "log-file=$tmplog1" > /etc/criu/default.conf
diff --git a/tests/integration/events.bats b/tests/integration/events.bats
index 50c577e8058..871c5eecff5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/events.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/events.bats
@@ -118,16 +118,7 @@ function teardown() {
   init_cgroup_paths
   
   # we need the container to hit OOM, so disable swap
-  # ("swap" here is actually memory+swap)
-  DATA=$(cat <<EOF
-  "memory": {
-    "limit": 33554432,
-    "swap": 33554432
-  },
-EOF
-  )
-  DATA=$(echo ${DATA} | sed 's/\n/\\n/g')
-  sed -i "s/\(\"resources\": {\)/\1\n${DATA}/" ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}/config.json
+  update_config '(.. | select(.resources? != null)) .resources.memory |= {"limit": 33554432, "swap": 33554432}' ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}
 
   # run busybox detached
   runc run -d --console-socket $CONSOLE_SOCKET test_busybox
diff --git a/tests/integration/helpers.bash b/tests/integration/helpers.bash
index edbe8fb0897..7f34ca54e89 100644
--- a/tests/integration/helpers.bash
+++ b/tests/integration/helpers.bash
@@ -82,27 +82,27 @@ function runc_spec() {
 	fi
 }
 
+# Helper function to reformat config.json file. Input uses jq syntax.
+function update_config() {
+	bundle="${2:-.}"
+	jq "$1" "$bundle/config.json" | awk 'BEGIN{RS="";getline<"-";print>ARGV[1]}' "$bundle/config.json"
+}
+
 # Shortcut to add additional uids and gids, based on the values set as part of
 # a rootless configuration.
 function runc_rootless_idmap() {
 	bundle="${1:-.}"
-	cat "$bundle/config.json" \
-		| jq '.mounts |= map((select(.type == "devpts") | .options += ["gid=5"]) // .)' \
-		| jq '.linux.uidMappings |= .+ [{"hostID": '"$ROOTLESS_UIDMAP_START"', "containerID": 1000, "size": '"$ROOTLESS_UIDMAP_LENGTH"'}]' \
-		| jq '.linux.gidMappings |= .+ [{"hostID": '"$ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_START"', "containerID": 100, "size": 1}]' \
-		| jq '.linux.gidMappings |= .+ [{"hostID": '"$(($ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_START+10))"', "containerID": 1, "size": 20}]' \
-		| jq '.linux.gidMappings |= .+ [{"hostID": '"$(($ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_START+100))"', "containerID": 1000, "size": '"$(($ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_LENGTH-1000))"'}]' \
-		>"$bundle/config.json.tmp"
-	mv "$bundle/config.json"{.tmp,}
+	update_config 	' .mounts |= map((select(.type == "devpts") | .options += ["gid=5"]) // .)
+			| .linux.uidMappings += [{"hostID": '"$ROOTLESS_UIDMAP_START"', "containerID": 1000, "size": '"$ROOTLESS_UIDMAP_LENGTH"'}]
+			| .linux.gidMappings += [{"hostID": '"$ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_START"', "containerID": 100, "size": 1}]
+			| .linux.gidMappings += [{"hostID": '"$(($ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_START+10))"', "containerID": 1, "size": 20}]
+			| .linux.gidMappings += [{"hostID": '"$(($ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_START+100))"', "containerID": 1000, "size": '"$(($ROOTLESS_GIDMAP_LENGTH-1000))"'}]' $bundle
 }
 
 # Shortcut to add empty resources as part of a rootless configuration.
 function runc_rootless_cgroup() {
 	bundle="${1:-.}"
-	cat "$bundle/config.json" \
-		| jq '.linux.resources |= .+ {"memory":{},"cpu":{},"blockio":{},"pids":{}}' \
-		>"$bundle/config.json.tmp"
-	mv "$bundle/config.json"{.tmp,}
+	update_config '.linux.resources += {"memory":{},"cpu":{},"blockio":{},"pids":{}}' $bundle
 }
 
 function init_cgroup_paths() {
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ function init_cgroup_paths() {
 function set_cgroups_path() {
   bundle="${1:-.}"
   init_cgroup_paths
-  sed -i 's#\("linux": {\)#\1\n    "cgroupsPath": "'"${OCI_CGROUPS_PATH}"'",#' "$bundle/config.json"
+  update_config '.linux.cgroupsPath |= "'"${OCI_CGROUPS_PATH}"'"' $bundle
 }
 
 # Helper to check a value in cgroups.
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ function check_systemd_value() {
 # Helper function to set a resources limit
 function set_resources_limit() {
   bundle="${1:-.}"
-  sed -i 's/\("linux": {\)/\1\n   "resources": { "pids": { "limit": 100 } },/'  "$bundle/config.json"
+  update_config '.linux.resources.pids.limit |= 100' $bundle
 }
 
 # Fails the current test, providing the error given.
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ function setup_hello() {
 	tar --exclude './dev/*' -C "$HELLO_BUNDLE"/rootfs -xf "$HELLO_IMAGE"
 	cd "$HELLO_BUNDLE"
 	runc_spec
-	sed -i 's;"sh";"/hello";' config.json
+	update_config '(.. | select(.? == "sh")) |= "/hello"'
 }
 
 function teardown_running_container() {
diff --git a/tests/integration/mask.bats b/tests/integration/mask.bats
index aaa80423111..79c08153eea 100644
--- a/tests/integration/mask.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/mask.bats
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ function setup() {
 	echo "Forbidden information!" > rootfs/testfile
 
 	# add extra masked paths
-	sed -i 's;"maskedPaths": \[;"maskedPaths": \["/testdir","/testfile",;g' config.json
+	update_config '(.. | select(.maskedPaths? != null)) .maskedPaths += ["/testdir", "/testfile"]' 
 }
 
 function teardown() {
diff --git a/tests/integration/mounts.bats b/tests/integration/mounts.bats
index c35b3c5f78a..bf2afa3d565 100644
--- a/tests/integration/mounts.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/mounts.bats
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ function teardown() {
 }
 
 @test "runc run [bind mount]" {
-	CONFIG=$(jq '.mounts |= . + [{"source": ".", "destination": "/tmp/bind", "options": ["bind"]}] | .process.args = ["ls", "/tmp/bind/config.json"]' config.json)
-	echo "${CONFIG}" >config.json
+	update_config 	' .mounts += [{"source": ".", "destination": "/tmp/bind", "options": ["bind"]}] 
+			| .process.args |= ["ls", "/tmp/bind/config.json"]' 
 
 	runc run test_bind_mount
 	[ "$status" -eq 0 ]
diff --git a/tests/integration/spec.bats b/tests/integration/spec.bats
index 12254684c1c..d924007d54b 100644
--- a/tests/integration/spec.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/spec.bats
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ function teardown() {
   [[ "${output}" == *"sh"* ]]
 
   # change the default args parameter from sh to hello
-  sed -i 's;"sh";"/hello";' config.json
+  update_config '(.. | select(.? == "sh")) |= "/hello"'
 
   # ensure the generated spec works by running hello-world
   runc run test_hello
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ function teardown() {
   [ -e "$HELLO_BUNDLE"/config.json ]
 
   # change the default args parameter from sh to hello
-  sed -i 's;"sh";"/hello";' "$HELLO_BUNDLE"/config.json
+  update_config '(.. | select(.? == "sh")) |= "/hello"' $HELLO_BUNDLE
 
   # ensure the generated spec works by running hello-world
   runc run --bundle "$HELLO_BUNDLE" test_hello
diff --git a/tests/integration/start_detached.bats b/tests/integration/start_detached.bats
index 7f177b86594..80672e47d77 100644
--- a/tests/integration/start_detached.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/start_detached.bats
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ function teardown() {
 
   # replace "uid": 0 with "uid": 1000
   # and do a similar thing for gid.
-  sed -i 's;"uid": 0;"uid": 1000;g' config.json
-  sed -i 's;"gid": 0;"gid": 100;g' config.json
+  update_config ' (.. | select(.uid? == 0)) .uid |= 1000
+		| (.. | select(.gid? == 0)) .gid |= 100' 
 
   # run busybox detached
   runc run -d --console-socket $CONSOLE_SOCKET test_busybox
diff --git a/tests/integration/start_hello.bats b/tests/integration/start_hello.bats
index a706be27d0a..e4200eb4b16 100644
--- a/tests/integration/start_hello.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/start_hello.bats
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ function teardown() {
 
   # replace "uid": 0 with "uid": 1000
   # and do a similar thing for gid.
-  sed -i 's;"uid": 0;"uid": 1000;g' config.json
-  sed -i 's;"gid": 0;"gid": 100;g' config.json
+  update_config ' (.. | select(.uid? == 0)) .uid |= 1000	
+		| (.. | select(.gid? == 0)) .gid |= 100' 
 
   # run hello-world
   runc run test_hello
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ function teardown() {
   cp config.json rootfs/.
   rm config.json
   cd rootfs
-  sed -i 's;"rootfs";".";' config.json
+  update_config '(.. | select(. == "rootfs")) |= "."'
 
   # run hello-world
   runc run test_hello
diff --git a/tests/integration/tty.bats b/tests/integration/tty.bats
index 47815ee2e1c..e18857fc7dd 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tty.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/tty.bats
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function teardown() {
 
 @test "runc run [tty ptsname]" {
 	# Replace sh script with readlink.
-    sed -i 's|"sh"|"sh", "-c", "for file in /proc/self/fd/[012]; do readlink $file; done"|' config.json
+	update_config '(.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["-c", "for file in /proc/self/fd/[012]; do readlink $file; done"]' 
 
 	# run busybox
 	runc run test_busybox
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ function teardown() {
 	[[ "$ROOTLESS" -ne 0 ]] && requires rootless_idmap
 
 	# Replace sh script with stat.
-	sed -i 's/"sh"/"sh", "-c", "stat -c %u:%g $(tty) | tr : \\\\\\\\n"/' config.json
+	update_config '(.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["-c", "stat -c %u:%g $(tty) | tr : \\\\n"]' 
 
 	# run busybox
 	runc run test_busybox
@@ -45,11 +45,10 @@ function teardown() {
 
 	# replace "uid": 0 with "uid": 1000
 	# and do a similar thing for gid.
-	sed -i 's;"uid": 0;"uid": 1000;g' config.json
-	sed -i 's;"gid": 0;"gid": 100;g' config.json
-
 	# Replace sh script with stat.
-	sed -i 's/"sh"/"sh", "-c", "stat -c %u:%g $(tty) | tr : \\\\\\\\n"/' config.json
+	update_config 	' (.. | select(.uid? == 0)) .uid |= 1000 
+			| (.. | select(.gid? == 0)) .gid |= 100
+			| (.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["-c", "stat -c %u:%g $(tty) | tr : \\\\n"]'
 
 	# run busybox
 	runc run test_busybox
@@ -100,8 +99,8 @@ function teardown() {
 
 	# replace "uid": 0 with "uid": 1000
 	# and do a similar thing for gid.
-	sed -i 's;"uid": 0;"uid": 1000;g' config.json
-	sed -i 's;"gid": 0;"gid": 100;g' config.json
+	update_config 	' (.. | select(.uid? == 0)) .uid |= 1000
+  			| (.. | select(.gid? == 0)) .gid |= 100' 
 
 	# run busybox detached
 	runc run -d --console-socket $CONSOLE_SOCKET test_busybox
@@ -119,7 +118,7 @@ function teardown() {
 
 @test "runc exec [tty consolesize]" {
 	# allow writing to filesystem
-	sed -i 's/"readonly": true/"readonly": false/' config.json
+	update_config '(.. | select(.readonly? != null)) .readonly |= false'
 
 	# run busybox detached
 	runc run -d --console-socket $CONSOLE_SOCKET test_busybox
@@ -176,9 +175,10 @@ EOF
 
 @test "runc create [terminal=false]" {
 	# Disable terminal creation.
-	sed -i 's|"terminal": true,|"terminal": false,|g' config.json
 	# Replace sh script with sleep.
-    sed -i 's|"sh"|"sleep", "1000s"|' config.json
+	update_config 	' (.. | select(.terminal? != null)) .terminal |= false
+			| (.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["sleep", "1000s"]
+			| del(.. | select(.? == "sh"))'
 
 	# Make sure that the handling of detached IO is done properly. See #1354.
 	__runc create test_busybox
@@ -196,9 +196,11 @@ EOF
 
 @test "runc run [terminal=false]" {
 	# Disable terminal creation.
-	sed -i 's|"terminal": true,|"terminal": false,|g' config.json
 	# Replace sh script with sleep.
-    sed -i 's|"sh"|"sleep", "1000s"|' config.json
+	
+	update_config   ' (.. | select(.terminal? != null)) .terminal |= false
+			| (.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["sleep", "1000s"]
+			| del(.. | select(.? == "sh"))'
 
 	# Make sure that the handling of non-detached IO is done properly. See #1354.
 	(
@@ -215,9 +217,10 @@ EOF
 
 @test "runc run -d [terminal=false]" {
 	# Disable terminal creation.
-	sed -i 's|"terminal": true,|"terminal": false,|g' config.json
 	# Replace sh script with sleep.
-    sed -i 's|"sh"|"sleep", "1000s"|' config.json
+	update_config 	' (.. | select(.terminal? != null)) .terminal |= false
+			| (.. | select(.[]? == "sh")) += ["sleep", "1000s"] 
+			| del(.. | select(.? == "sh"))'
 
 	# Make sure that the handling of detached IO is done properly. See #1354.
 	__runc run -d test_busybox
diff --git a/tests/integration/update.bats b/tests/integration/update.bats
index 0bb6597eaaa..7a3f1fb9ee5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update.bats
+++ b/tests/integration/update.bats
@@ -16,28 +16,9 @@ function setup() {
     set_cgroups_path "$BUSYBOX_BUNDLE"
 
     # Set some initial known values
-    DATA=$(cat <<EOF
-    "memory": {
-        "limit": 33554432,
-        "reservation": 25165824
-    },
-    "cpu": {
-        "shares": 100,
-        "quota": 500000,
-        "period": 1000000,
-        "cpus": "0"
-    },
-    "pids": {
-        "limit": 20
-    }
-EOF
-    )
-    DATA=$(echo ${DATA} | sed 's/\n/\\n/g')
-    if grep -qw \"resources\" ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}/config.json; then
-        sed -i "s/\(\"resources\": {\)/\1\n${DATA},/" ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}/config.json
-    else
-        sed -i "s/\(\"linux\": {\)/\1\n\"resources\": {${DATA}},/" ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}/config.json
-    fi
+    update_config 	' .linux.resources.memory |= {"limit": 33554432, "reservation": 25165824}
+			| .linux.resources.cpu |= {"shares": 100, "quota": 500000, "period": 1000000, "cpus": "0"}
+			| .linux.resources.pids |= {"limit": 20}' ${BUSYBOX_BUNDLE}
 }
 
 # Tests whatever limits are (more or less) common between cgroup
@@ -321,8 +302,7 @@ EOF
     # Run a basic shell script that tries to write to /dev/null. If "runc
     # update" makes use of minimal transition rules, updates should not cause
     # writes to fail at any point.
-    jq '.process.args = ["sh", "-c", "while true; do echo >/dev/null; done"]' config.json > config.json.tmp
-    mv config.json{.tmp,}
+    update_config '.process.args |= ["sh", "-c", "while true; do echo >/dev/null; done"]' 
 
     # Set up a temporary console socket and recvtty so we can get the stdio.
     TMP_RECVTTY_DIR="$(mktemp -d "$BATS_TMPDIR/runc-tmp-recvtty.XXXXXX")"