diff --git a/bin/cdist-config b/bin/cdist-config
index 8a0af5a4..c72cf1e5 100755
--- a/bin/cdist-config
+++ b/bin/cdist-config
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@
 : ${CDIST_HOSTS:=$CDIST_CONFIG/hosts}
 : ${CDIST_MODULES:=$CDIST_CONFIG/modules}
 
-# always export variables -- needed if everything gets sourced?
-set -a
-
 cdist_debug_echo()
 {
    [ "$CDIST_DEBUG" ] && echo "Debug: $@"
diff --git a/doc_show_all_exported_variables b/doc_show_all_exported_variables
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..51d7cf44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc_show_all_exported_variables
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+cat bin/* | awk '/^export/ { print $2 }'