diff --git a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory.java b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory.java
index 3e5d3a8dac..1578a20751 100644
--- a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory.java
+++ b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public class InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory implements ConfigurationEntr
     return get(name);
   }
 
-  public InMemoryConfigurationEntryStore get(String name) {
+  public <T> InMemoryConfigurationEntryStore<T> get(String name) {
     return stores.computeIfAbsent(name, x -> new InMemoryConfigurationEntryStore());
   }
 }
diff --git a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/UpdateStepTestUtil.java b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/UpdateStepTestUtil.java
index 7b4487f1a5..51899cdbee 100644
--- a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/UpdateStepTestUtil.java
+++ b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/UpdateStepTestUtil.java
@@ -42,10 +42,6 @@ public class UpdateStepTestUtil {
     copyTestDatabaseFile(configDir, fileName, targetFileName);
   }
 
-  public Path getFile(String name) {
-    return tempDir.resolve("config").resolve(name);
-  }
-
   private void copyTestDatabaseFile(Path configDir, String fileName) throws IOException {
     Path targetFileName = Paths.get(fileName).getFileName();
     copyTestDatabaseFile(configDir, fileName, targetFileName.toString());
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Properties.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Properties.java
index 3c8555a76e..156fdae73f 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Properties.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Properties.java
@@ -6,9 +6,15 @@ import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import static java.util.Collections.unmodifiableList;
+
 @XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
 @XmlRootElement(name = "properties")
 public class V1Properties {
   @XmlElement(name = "item")
   private List<V1Property> properties;
+
+  public List<V1Property> getProperties() {
+    return unmodifiableList(properties);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Property.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Property.java
index c92c15188d..86f16a085a 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Property.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/update/properties/V1Property.java
@@ -2,9 +2,48 @@ package sonia.scm.update.properties;
 
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
+import java.util.Objects;
 
 @XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
 public class V1Property {
   private String key;
   private String value;
+
+  public V1Property() {
+  }
+
+  public V1Property(String key, String value) {
+    this.key = key;
+    this.value = value;
+  }
+
+  public String getKey() {
+    return key;
+  }
+
+  public String getValue() {
+    return value;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean equals(Object o) {
+    if (this == o) return true;
+    if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) return false;
+    V1Property that = (V1Property) o;
+    return Objects.equals(key, that.key) &&
+      Objects.equals(value, that.value);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public int hashCode() {
+    return Objects.hash(key, value);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString() {
+    return "V1Property{" +
+      "key='" + key + '\'' +
+      ", value='" + value + '\'' +
+      '}';
+  }
 }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/group/XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/group/XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest.java
index caa7f68fea..415bd508eb 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/group/XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/group/XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest.java
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
 import sonia.scm.group.Group;
 import sonia.scm.group.xml.XmlGroupDAO;
-import sonia.scm.security.DefaultKeyGenerator;
-import sonia.scm.store.JAXBConfigurationEntryStoreFactory;
+import sonia.scm.store.ConfigurationEntryStore;
+import sonia.scm.store.InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory;
 import sonia.scm.update.UpdateStepTestUtil;
+import sonia.scm.update.properties.V1Properties;
+import sonia.scm.update.properties.V1Property;
 
 import javax.xml.bind.JAXBException;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -22,11 +24,11 @@ import java.util.Optional;
 
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.linesOf;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doNothing;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static sonia.scm.store.InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory.create;
 
 @ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
 @ExtendWith(TempDirectory.class)
@@ -38,6 +40,8 @@ class XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest {
   @Captor
   ArgumentCaptor<Group> groupCaptor;
 
+  InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory storeFactory = create();
+
   XmlGroupV1UpdateStep updateStep;
 
   private UpdateStepTestUtil testUtil;
@@ -46,7 +50,6 @@ class XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest {
   @BeforeEach
   void mockScmHome(@TempDirectory.TempDir Path tempDir) {
     testUtil = new UpdateStepTestUtil(tempDir);
-    JAXBConfigurationEntryStoreFactory storeFactory = new JAXBConfigurationEntryStoreFactory(testUtil.getContextProvider(), null, new DefaultKeyGenerator());
     updateStep = new XmlGroupV1UpdateStep(testUtil.getContextProvider(), groupDAO, storeFactory);
   }
 
@@ -86,19 +89,13 @@ class XmlGroupV1UpdateStepTest {
     @Test
     void shouldExtractProperties() throws JAXBException {
       updateStep.doUpdate();
-      Path propertiesFile = testUtil.getFile("group-properties-v1.xml");
-      assertThat(propertiesFile)
-        .exists();
-      assertThat(linesOf(propertiesFile.toFile()))
-        .extracting(String::trim)
-        .containsSequence(
-          "<key>normals</key>",
-          "<value>",
-          "<item>",
-          "<key>mostly</key>",
-          "<value>humans</value>",
-          "</item>",
-          "</value>");
+      ConfigurationEntryStore<V1Properties> propertiesStore = storeFactory.<V1Properties>get("group-properties-v1");
+      assertThat(propertiesStore.get("normals"))
+        .isNotNull()
+        .extracting(V1Properties::getProperties)
+        .first()
+        .asList()
+        .contains(new V1Property("mostly", "humans"));
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/user/XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/user/XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest.java
index 9de169d93d..ec26db00a2 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/user/XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/update/user/XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest.java
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ import org.mockito.Captor;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
 import sonia.scm.security.AssignedPermission;
-import sonia.scm.security.DefaultKeyGenerator;
 import sonia.scm.store.ConfigurationEntryStore;
-import sonia.scm.store.ConfigurationEntryStoreFactory;
-import sonia.scm.store.JAXBConfigurationEntryStoreFactory;
+import sonia.scm.store.InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory;
 import sonia.scm.update.UpdateStepTestUtil;
+import sonia.scm.update.properties.V1Properties;
+import sonia.scm.update.properties.V1Property;
 import sonia.scm.user.User;
 import sonia.scm.user.xml.XmlUserDAO;
 
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@ import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.linesOf;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.doNothing;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static sonia.scm.store.InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory.create;
 
 @ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
 @ExtendWith(TempDirectory.class)
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest {
   @Captor
   ArgumentCaptor<User> userCaptor;
 
+  InMemoryConfigurationEntryStoreFactory storeFactory = create();
+
   XmlUserV1UpdateStep updateStep;
 
   private UpdateStepTestUtil testUtil;
@@ -47,7 +49,6 @@ class XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest {
   @BeforeEach
   void mockScmHome(@TempDirectory.TempDir Path tempDir) {
     testUtil = new UpdateStepTestUtil(tempDir);
-    ConfigurationEntryStoreFactory storeFactory = new JAXBConfigurationEntryStoreFactory(testUtil.getContextProvider(), null, new DefaultKeyGenerator());
     updateStep = new XmlUserV1UpdateStep(testUtil.getContextProvider(), userDAO, storeFactory);
   }
 
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ class XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest {
     void shouldCreateNewPermissionsForV1AdminUser() throws JAXBException {
       updateStep.doUpdate();
       Optional<AssignedPermission> assignedPermission =
-        getStoreForConfigFile("security")
+        storeFactory.<AssignedPermission>get("security")
           .getAll()
           .values()
           .stream()
@@ -103,30 +104,15 @@ class XmlUserV1UpdateStepTest {
     @Test
     void shouldExtractProperties() throws JAXBException {
       updateStep.doUpdate();
-      Path propertiesFile = testUtil.getFile("user-properties-v1.xml");
-      assertThat(propertiesFile)
-        .exists();
-      assertThat(linesOf(propertiesFile.toFile()))
-        .extracting(String::trim)
-        .containsSequence(
-          "<key>dent</key>",
-          "<value>",
-          "<item>",
-          "<key>born.on</key>",
-          "<value>earth</value>",
-          "</item>",
-          "<item>",
-          "<key>last.seen</key>",
-          "<value>end of the universe</value>",
-          "</item>",
-          "</value>");
-    }
-
-    private ConfigurationEntryStore<AssignedPermission> getStoreForConfigFile(String name) {
-      return new JAXBConfigurationEntryStoreFactory(testUtil.getContextProvider(), null, new DefaultKeyGenerator())
-        .withType(AssignedPermission.class)
-        .withName(name)
-        .build();
+      ConfigurationEntryStore<V1Properties> propertiesStore = storeFactory.<V1Properties>get("user-properties-v1");
+      assertThat(propertiesStore.get("dent"))
+        .isNotNull()
+        .extracting(V1Properties::getProperties)
+        .first()
+        .asList()
+        .contains(
+          new V1Property("born.on", "earth"),
+          new V1Property("last.seen", "end of the universe"));
     }
   }