diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 88c90b9b..2a6be961 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ CWD=$(shell pwd)
 PY_FILES=$(shell find cloudinit bin tests tools -name "*.py" -type f )
 PY_FILES+="bin/cloud-init"
 
+YAML_FILES=$(shell find cloudinit bin tests tools -name "*.yaml" -type f )
+YAML_FILES+=$(shell find doc/examples -name "cloud-config*.txt" -type f )
+
+
 all: test
 
 pep8:
@@ -23,11 +27,14 @@ clean:
 	rm -rf /var/log/cloud-init.log \
 		   /var/lib/cloud/
 
+yaml:
+	@$(CWD)/tools/validate-yaml.py $(YAML_FILES)
+		   
 rpm:
 	./packages/brpm
 
 deb:
 	./packages/bddeb
 
-.PHONY: test pylint pyflakes 2to3 clean pep8 rpm deb
+.PHONY: test pylint pyflakes 2to3 clean pep8 rpm deb yaml
 
diff --git a/doc/examples/cloud-config.txt b/doc/examples/cloud-config.txt
index 04bb5df1..12bf2c91 100644
--- a/doc/examples/cloud-config.txt
+++ b/doc/examples/cloud-config.txt
@@ -355,8 +355,7 @@ rsyslog:
  - ':syslogtag, isequal, "[CLOUDINIT]" /var/log/cloud-foo.log'
  - content: "*.*   @@192.0.2.1:10514"
  - filename: 01-examplecom.conf
-   content: |
-   *.*   @@syslogd.example.com
+   content: "*.*   @@syslogd.example.com"
 
 # resize_rootfs should the / filesytem be resized on first boot
 # this allows you to launch an instance with a larger disk / partition
diff --git a/tests/configs/sample1.yaml b/tests/configs/sample1.yaml
index 24e874ee..6231f293 100644
--- a/tests/configs/sample1.yaml
+++ b/tests/configs/sample1.yaml
@@ -50,4 +50,3 @@ runcmd:
  
 
 byobu_by_default: user
-output: {all: '| tee -a /var/log/cloud-init-output.log'}
diff --git a/tools/validate-yaml.py b/tools/validate-yaml.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d3218e40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/validate-yaml.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+"""Try to read a YAML file and report any errors.
+"""
+
+import sys
+
+import yaml
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    for fn in sys.argv[1:]:
+        sys.stdout.write("%s" % (fn))
+        try:
+            fh = open(fn, 'r')
+            yaml.safe_load(fh.read())
+            fh.close()
+            sys.stdout.write(" - ok\n")
+        except Exception, e:
+            sys.stdout.write(" - bad (%s)\n" % (e))