diff --git a/src/or/config.c b/src/or/config.c
index b4d733a6fa..315884c5b4 100644
--- a/src/or/config.c
+++ b/src/or/config.c
@@ -718,10 +718,14 @@ set_options(or_options_t *new_val, char **msg)
   if (old_options) {
     elements = smartlist_create();
     for (i=0; options_format.vars[i].name; ++i) {
-      if (!option_is_same(&options_format, new_val, old_options,
-        options_format.vars[i].name)) {
-        line = get_assigned_option(&options_format, new_val,
-        options_format.vars[i].name, 1);
+      const config_var_t *var = &options_format.vars[i];
+      const char *var_name = var->name;
+      if (var->type == CONFIG_TYPE_LINELIST_S ||
+          var->type == CONFIG_TYPE_OBSOLETE) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (!option_is_same(&options_format, new_val, old_options, var_name)) {
+        line = get_assigned_option(&options_format, new_val, var_name, 1);
 
         if (line) {
           for (; line; line = line->next) {