diff --git a/caddytest/caddytest.go b/caddytest/caddytest.go
index 3c6f95da..05aa1e3f 100644
--- a/caddytest/caddytest.go
+++ b/caddytest/caddytest.go
@@ -136,6 +136,20 @@ func (tc *Tester) initServer(rawConfig string, configType string) error {
 	})
 
 	rawConfig = prependCaddyFilePath(rawConfig)
+	// normalize JSON config
+	if configType == "json" {
+		tc.t.Logf("Before: %s", rawConfig)
+		var conf any
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(rawConfig), &conf); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		c, err := json.Marshal(conf)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		rawConfig = string(c)
+		tc.t.Logf("After: %s", rawConfig)
+	}
 	client := &http.Client{
 		Timeout: Default.LoadRequestTimeout,
 	}
diff --git a/caddytest/caddytest_test.go b/caddytest/caddytest_test.go
index a46867ca..937537fa 100644
--- a/caddytest/caddytest_test.go
+++ b/caddytest/caddytest_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package caddytest
 
 import (
+	"net/http"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
@@ -31,3 +32,98 @@ func TestReplaceCertificatePaths(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("expected redirect uri to be unchanged")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestLoadUnorderedJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	tester := NewTester(t)
+	tester.InitServer(`
+	{
+		"logging": {
+			"logs": {
+				"default": {
+					"level": "DEBUG",
+					"writer": {
+						"output": "stdout"
+					}
+				},
+				"sStdOutLogs": {
+					"level": "DEBUG",
+					"writer": {
+						"output": "stdout"
+					},
+					"include": [
+						"http.*",
+						"admin.*"
+					]
+				},
+				"sFileLogs": {
+					"level": "DEBUG",
+					"writer": {
+						"output": "stdout"
+					},
+					"include": [
+						"http.*",
+						"admin.*"
+					]
+				}
+			}
+		},
+		"admin": {
+			"listen": "localhost:2999"
+		},
+		"apps": {
+			"pki": {
+				"certificate_authorities" : {
+				  "local" : {
+					"install_trust": false
+				  }
+				}
+			},
+			"http": {
+				"http_port": 9080,
+				"https_port": 9443,
+				"servers": {
+					"s_server": {
+						"listen": [
+							":9443",
+							":9080"
+						],
+						"routes": [
+							{
+								"handle": [
+									{
+										"handler": "static_response",
+										"body": "Hello"
+									}
+								]
+							},
+							{
+								"match": [
+									{
+										"host": [
+											"localhost",
+											"127.0.0.1"
+										]
+									}
+								]
+							}
+						],
+						"logs": {
+							"default_logger_name": "sStdOutLogs",
+							"logger_names": {
+								"localhost": "sStdOutLogs",
+								"127.0.0.1": "sFileLogs"
+							}
+						}
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+  `, "json")
+	req, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "http://localhost:9080/", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fail()
+		return
+	}
+	tester.AssertResponseCode(req, 200)
+}