diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 6a8c1b761bc..1ee2dfb734e 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -227,9 +227,6 @@ EXTRA_DIST = $(top_srcdir)/share/genbuild.sh qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py qa/rpc-
 
 CLEANFILES = $(OSX_DMG) $(BITCOIN_WIN_INSTALLER)
 
-# This file is problematic for out-of-tree builds if it exists.
-DISTCLEANFILES = qa/pull-tester/tests_config.pyc
-
 .INTERMEDIATE: $(COVERAGE_INFO)
 
 DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS = --enable-man
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 346695043d9..1452ff74c0c 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1087,7 +1087,7 @@ AC_SUBST(ZMQ_LIBS)
 AC_SUBST(PROTOBUF_LIBS)
 AC_SUBST(QR_LIBS)
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile src/Makefile doc/man/Makefile share/setup.nsi share/qt/Info.plist src/test/buildenv.py])
-AC_CONFIG_FILES([qa/pull-tester/tests_config.py],[chmod +x qa/pull-tester/tests_config.py])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([qa/pull-tester/tests_config.ini],[chmod +x qa/pull-tester/tests_config.ini])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([contrib/devtools/split-debug.sh],[chmod +x contrib/devtools/split-debug.sh])
 AC_CONFIG_LINKS([qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py:qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py])
 
diff --git a/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py b/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py
index 26bc6a73dfa..52157474074 100755
--- a/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py
+++ b/qa/pull-tester/rpc-tests.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ For a description of arguments recognized by test scripts, see
 
 """
 
+import configparser
 import os
 import time
 import shutil
@@ -29,26 +30,22 @@ import subprocess
 import tempfile
 import re
 
-sys.path.append("qa/pull-tester/")
-from tests_config import *
-
 BOLD = ("","")
 if os.name == 'posix':
     # primitive formatting on supported
     # terminal via ANSI escape sequences:
     BOLD = ('\033[0m', '\033[1m')
 
-RPC_TESTS_DIR = SRCDIR + '/qa/rpc-tests/'
+# Read config generated by configure.
+config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+config.read_file(open(os.path.dirname(__file__) + "/tests_config.ini"))
+
+ENABLE_WALLET = config["components"]["ENABLE_WALLET"] == "True"
+ENABLE_UTILS = config["components"]["ENABLE_UTILS"] == "True"
+ENABLE_BITCOIND = config["components"]["ENABLE_BITCOIND"] == "True"
+ENABLE_ZMQ = config["components"]["ENABLE_ZMQ"] == "True"
 
-#If imported values are not defined then set to zero (or disabled)
-if 'ENABLE_WALLET' not in vars():
-    ENABLE_WALLET=0
-if 'ENABLE_BITCOIND' not in vars():
-    ENABLE_BITCOIND=0
-if 'ENABLE_UTILS' not in vars():
-    ENABLE_UTILS=0
-if 'ENABLE_ZMQ' not in vars():
-    ENABLE_ZMQ=0
+RPC_TESTS_DIR = config["environment"]["SRCDIR"] + '/qa/rpc-tests/'
 
 ENABLE_COVERAGE=0
 
@@ -76,15 +73,15 @@ for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
 
 #Set env vars
 if "BITCOIND" not in os.environ:
-    os.environ["BITCOIND"] = BUILDDIR + '/src/bitcoind' + EXEEXT
+    os.environ["BITCOIND"] = config["environment"]["BUILDDIR"] + '/src/bitcoind' + config["environment"]["EXEEXT"]
 
-if EXEEXT == ".exe" and "-win" not in opts:
+if config["environment"]["EXEEXT"] == ".exe" and "-win" not in opts:
     # https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/d52802551752140cf41f0d9a225a43e84404d3e9
     # https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/5677#issuecomment-136646964
     print("Win tests currently disabled by default.  Use -win option to enable")
     sys.exit(0)
 
-if not (ENABLE_WALLET == 1 and ENABLE_UTILS == 1 and ENABLE_BITCOIND == 1):
+if not (ENABLE_WALLET and ENABLE_UTILS and ENABLE_BITCOIND):
     print("No rpc tests to run. Wallet, utils, and bitcoind must all be enabled")
     sys.exit(0)
 
@@ -209,8 +206,8 @@ def runtests():
     if ENABLE_COVERAGE:
         coverage = RPCCoverage()
         print("Initializing coverage directory at %s\n" % coverage.dir)
-    flags = ["--srcdir=%s/src" % BUILDDIR] + passon_args
-    flags.append("--cachedir=%s/qa/cache" % BUILDDIR)
+    flags = ["--srcdir=%s/src" % config["environment"]["BUILDDIR"]] + passon_args
+    flags.append("--cachedir=%s/qa/cache" % config["environment"]["BUILDDIR"])
     if coverage:
         flags.append(coverage.flag)
 
diff --git a/qa/pull-tester/tests_config.ini.in b/qa/pull-tester/tests_config.ini.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8317caaeb51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qa/pull-tester/tests_config.ini.in
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2013-2016 The Bitcoin Core developers
+# Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+# file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+# These environment variables are set by the build process and read by
+# rpc-tests.py
+
+[DEFAULT]
+# Provides default values for whether different components are enabled
+ENABLE_WALLET=False
+ENABLE_UTILS=False
+ENABLE_BITCOIND=False
+ENABLE_ZMQ=False
+
+[environment]
+SRCDIR=@abs_top_srcdir@
+BUILDDIR=@abs_top_builddir@
+EXEEXT=@EXEEXT@
+
+[components]
+# Which components are enabled. These are commented out by `configure` if they were disabled when running config.
+@ENABLE_WALLET_TRUE@ENABLE_WALLET=True
+@BUILD_BITCOIN_UTILS_TRUE@ENABLE_UTILS=True
+@BUILD_BITCOIND_TRUE@ENABLE_BITCOIND=True
+@ENABLE_ZMQ_TRUE@ENABLE_ZMQ=True
diff --git a/qa/pull-tester/tests_config.py.in b/qa/pull-tester/tests_config.py.in
deleted file mode 100644
index a0d0a3d98a8..00000000000
--- a/qa/pull-tester/tests_config.py.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-# Copyright (c) 2013-2016 The Bitcoin Core developers
-# Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
-# file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
-
-SRCDIR="@abs_top_srcdir@"
-BUILDDIR="@abs_top_builddir@"
-EXEEXT="@EXEEXT@"
-
-# These will turn into comments if they were disabled when configuring.
-@ENABLE_WALLET_TRUE@ENABLE_WALLET=1
-@BUILD_BITCOIN_UTILS_TRUE@ENABLE_UTILS=1
-@BUILD_BITCOIND_TRUE@ENABLE_BITCOIND=1
-@ENABLE_ZMQ_TRUE@ENABLE_ZMQ=1