diff --git a/src/initscripts/system/functions b/src/initscripts/system/functions
index 1fa256e80..dd141db6e 100644
--- a/src/initscripts/system/functions
+++ b/src/initscripts/system/functions
@@ -890,3 +890,18 @@ volume_fs_type() {
 
 	stat -f --format="%T" ${1}
 }
+
+readhash() {
+	local array="${1}"
+	local file="${2}"
+
+	declare -A -g "${array}"
+
+	local line
+	while read -r line; do
+		local key="${line%=*}"
+		local val="${line#*=}"
+
+		printf -v "${array}[${key}]" "%s" "${val}"
+	done < "${file}"
+}
diff --git a/tests/src/initscripts/system/functions/data/1 b/tests/src/initscripts/system/functions/data/1
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8aca9422b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/initscripts/system/functions/data/1
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+CONFIG_TYPE=3
+GREEN_DEV=green0
+GREEN_MACADDR=00:c0:08:8a:a0:47
+GREEN_DRIVER=r8175
+RED_DEV=red0
+RED_MACADDR=00:c0:08:8a:a0:56
+RED_DRIVER=r8283
+BLUE_DEV='blue0 net0'
+BLUE_MACADDR=bc:30:7d:58:6b:e3
+BLUE_DRIVER=rt2800
+RED_DHCP_HOSTNAME=ipfire
+RED_DHCP_FORCE_MTU=
+RED_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0
+RED_NETMASK=0.0.0.0
+RED_TYPE=PPPOE
+RED_NETADDRESS=0.0.0.0
+
diff --git a/tests/src/initscripts/system/functions/test.sh b/tests/src/initscripts/system/functions/test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..dbb2d8a62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/initscripts/system/functions/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/usr/bin/bash
+
+SCRIPT_PATH="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")"
+
+ROOT="$(readlink -f "${SCRIPT_PATH}/../../../../..")"
+
+. ${ROOT}/tests/lib.sh
+
+. ${ROOT}/src/initscripts/system/functions
+
+# read the date in
+readhash "CONFIG" "${SCRIPT_PATH}/data/1"
+
+# test if we read the correct data
+test_value_in_array "CONFIG" "RED_DHCP_HOSTNAME" "ipfire"
+test_value_in_array "CONFIG" "BLUE_MACADDR" "bc:30:7d:58:6b:e3"