diff --git a/fabrics.c b/fabrics.c
index 6f60cee894..537c7bb16c 100644
--- a/fabrics.c
+++ b/fabrics.c
@@ -575,7 +575,7 @@ int fabrics_discovery(const char *desc, int argc, char **argv, bool connect)
 
 out_free:
 	if (dump_config)
-		nvme_dump_config(ctx, NULL);
+		nvme_dump_config(ctx, STDOUT_FILENO);
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -678,7 +678,7 @@ int fabrics_connect(const char *desc, int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 
 	if (dump_config)
-		nvme_dump_config(ctx, NULL);
+		nvme_dump_config(ctx, STDERR_FILENO);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -951,11 +951,16 @@ int fabrics_config(const char *desc, int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (update_config)
-		nvme_dump_config(ctx, config_file);
+	if (update_config) {
+		_cleanup_fd_ int fd = -1;
+
+		fd = open(config_file, O_RDONLY, 0);
+		if (fd != -1)
+			nvme_dump_config(ctx, fd);
+	}
 
 	if (dump_config)
-		nvme_dump_config(ctx, NULL);
+		nvme_dump_config(ctx, STDOUT_FILENO);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/libnvme/libnvme/nvme.i b/libnvme/libnvme/nvme.i
index a8851edf86..e658ebafa0 100644
--- a/libnvme/libnvme/nvme.i
+++ b/libnvme/libnvme/nvme.i
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ struct nvme_ns {
 		nvme_refresh_topology($self);
 	}
 	void dump_config() {
-		nvme_dump_config($self, NULL);
+		nvme_dump_config($self, STDERR_FILENO);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/libnvme/src/nvme/fabrics.c b/libnvme/src/nvme/fabrics.c
index 6db178b396..05c81a847d 100644
--- a/libnvme/src/nvme/fabrics.c
+++ b/libnvme/src/nvme/fabrics.c
@@ -2765,25 +2765,26 @@ void nvmf_nbft_free(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, struct nbft_file_entry *head)
 	}
 }
 
-static bool validate_uri(struct nbft_info_discovery *dd,
+static bool validate_uri(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx,
+			 struct nbft_info_discovery *dd,
 			 struct nvme_fabrics_uri *uri)
 {
 	if (!uri) {
-		fprintf(stderr,
-			"Discovery Descriptor %d: failed to parse URI %s\n",
-			dd->index, dd->uri);
+		nvme_msg(ctx, LOG_ERR,
+			 "Discovery Descriptor %d: failed to parse URI %s\n",
+			 dd->index, dd->uri);
 		return false;
 	}
 	if (strcmp(uri->scheme, "nvme") != 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr,
-			"Discovery Descriptor %d: unsupported scheme '%s'\n",
-			dd->index, uri->scheme);
+		nvme_msg(ctx, LOG_ERR,
+			 "Discovery Descriptor %d: unsupported scheme '%s'\n",
+			 dd->index, uri->scheme);
 		return false;
 	}
 	if (!uri->protocol || strcmp(uri->protocol, "tcp") != 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr,
-			"Discovery Descriptor %d: unsupported transport '%s'\n",
-			dd->index, uri->protocol);
+		nvme_msg(ctx, LOG_ERR,
+			 "Discovery Descriptor %d: unsupported transport '%s'\n",
+			 dd->index, uri->protocol);
 		return false;
 	}
 
@@ -3110,7 +3111,7 @@ int nvmf_discovery_nbft(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx,
 			ret = nvme_parse_uri((*dd)->uri, &uri);
 			if (ret)
 				continue;
-			if (!validate_uri(*dd, uri))
+			if (!validate_uri(ctx, *dd, uri))
 				continue;
 
 			host_traddr = NULL;
diff --git a/libnvme/src/nvme/json.c b/libnvme/src/nvme/json.c
index 41f7862b25..3121cece8c 100644
--- a/libnvme/src/nvme/json.c
+++ b/libnvme/src/nvme/json.c
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ static void json_update_subsys(struct json_object *subsys_array,
 	}
 }
 
-int json_update_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, const char *config_file)
+int json_update_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, int fd)
 {
 	nvme_host_t h;
 	struct json_object *json_root, *host_obj;
@@ -432,18 +432,12 @@ int json_update_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, const char *config_file)
 			json_object_put(host_obj);
 		}
 	}
-	if (!config_file) {
-		ret = json_object_to_fd(1, json_root,
-					JSON_C_TO_STRING_PRETTY |
-					JSON_C_TO_STRING_NOSLASHESCAPE);
-		printf("\n");
-	} else
-		ret = json_object_to_file_ext(config_file, json_root,
-					      JSON_C_TO_STRING_PRETTY |
-					      JSON_C_TO_STRING_NOSLASHESCAPE);
+	ret = json_object_to_fd(fd, json_root,
+				JSON_C_TO_STRING_PRETTY |
+				JSON_C_TO_STRING_NOSLASHESCAPE);
+	write(fd, "\n", 1);
 	if (ret < 0) {
-		nvme_msg(ctx, LOG_ERR, "Failed to write to %s, %s\n",
-			 config_file ? "stdout" : config_file,
+		nvme_msg(ctx, LOG_ERR, "Failed to write JSON config file: %s\n",
 			 json_util_get_last_err());
 		ret = -EIO;
 	}
diff --git a/libnvme/src/nvme/private.h b/libnvme/src/nvme/private.h
index 1e4036bcfa..cff50fb896 100644
--- a/libnvme/src/nvme/private.h
+++ b/libnvme/src/nvme/private.h
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ int nvme_set_attr(const char *dir, const char *attr, const char *value);
 
 int json_read_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, const char *config_file);
 
-int json_update_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, const char *config_file);
+int json_update_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, int fd);
 
 int json_dump_tree(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx);
 
diff --git a/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.c b/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.c
index 671ccd37be..bdcbb20b56 100644
--- a/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.c
+++ b/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.c
@@ -406,9 +406,9 @@ int nvme_scan(const char *config_file, struct nvme_global_ctx **ctxp)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-int nvme_dump_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, const char *config_file)
+int nvme_dump_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, int fd)
 {
-	return json_update_config(ctx, config_file);
+	return json_update_config(ctx, fd);
 }
 
 int nvme_dump_tree(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx)
diff --git a/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.h b/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.h
index 0d5bc27878..01ad5e3008 100644
--- a/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.h
+++ b/libnvme/src/nvme/tree.h
@@ -1398,15 +1398,14 @@ void nvme_refresh_topology(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx);
 /**
  * nvme_dump_config() - Print the JSON configuration
  * @ctx:		&struct nvme_global_ctx object
- * @config_file:	JSON configuration file.
+ * @fd:			File descriptor to write the JSON configuration.
  *
- * Prints the current contents of the JSON configuration
- * file to the config_file. If connfig_file is not provided it prints
- * to stdout.
+ * Writes the current contents of the JSON configuration
+ * to the file descriptor fd.
  *
  * Return: 0 on success, or negative error code otherwise.
  */
-int nvme_dump_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, const char *config_file);
+int nvme_dump_config(struct nvme_global_ctx *ctx, int fd);
 
 /**
  * nvme_dump_tree() - Dump internal object tree
diff --git a/libnvme/test/config/config-dump.c b/libnvme/test/config/config-dump.c
index d9e8d27032..1adc3348a1 100644
--- a/libnvme/test/config/config-dump.c
+++ b/libnvme/test/config/config-dump.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
 #include <libnvme.h>
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ static bool config_dump(const char *file)
 	if (err)
 		goto out;
 
-	err = nvme_dump_config(ctx, NULL);
+	err = nvme_dump_config(ctx, STDOUT_FILENO);
 	if (err)
 		goto out;
 
diff --git a/libnvme/test/config/psk-json.c b/libnvme/test/config/psk-json.c
index 65801397c6..35fc67ee4a 100644
--- a/libnvme/test/config/psk-json.c
+++ b/libnvme/test/config/psk-json.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
 #include <libnvme.h>
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ static bool psk_json_test(char *file)
 				if (!import_export_key(ctx, c))
 					goto out;
 
-	err = nvme_dump_config(ctx, NULL);
+	err = nvme_dump_config(ctx, STDOUT_FILENO);
 	if (err)
 		goto out;