diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ea22f5d..270ab14 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -117,6 +117,31 @@ jobs:
           name: exitstatus-${{ github.job }}
           path: exitstatus/
 
+  linux-unit-tests:
+    name: Linux Unit Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: collect-changed-files
+    if: github.event_name == 'push' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || github.event_name == 'schedule' || needs.collect-changed-files.outputs.run-tests == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - name: Run Unit Tests
+        run: |
+          bash tests/linux/test_version_resolution.sh
+          bash tests/linux/test_minion_conf_parsing.sh
+
+      - name: Set Exit Status
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          mkdir exitstatus
+          echo "${{ job.status }}" > exitstatus/${{ github.job }}
+
+      - name: Upload Exit Status
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: exitstatus-${{ github.job }}
+          path: exitstatus/
+
 
 
   windows-2022:
@@ -158,6 +183,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
       - lint
+      - linux-unit-tests
       - generate-actions-workflow
       - windows-2022
       - rockylinux-9
diff --git a/.github/workflows/templates/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/templates/ci.yml
index d1dd364..4cf7af3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/templates/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/templates/ci.yml
@@ -116,3 +116,28 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: exitstatus-${{ github.job }}
           path: exitstatus/
+
+  linux-unit-tests:
+    name: Linux Unit Tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: collect-changed-files
+    if: github.event_name == 'push' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || github.event_name == 'schedule' || needs.collect-changed-files.outputs.run-tests == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - name: Run Unit Tests
+        run: |
+          bash tests/linux/test_version_resolution.sh
+          bash tests/linux/test_minion_conf_parsing.sh
+
+      - name: Set Exit Status
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          mkdir exitstatus
+          echo "${{ job.status }}" > exitstatus/${{ github.job }}
+
+      - name: Upload Exit Status
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: exitstatus-${{ github.job }}
+          path: exitstatus/
diff --git a/.github/workflows/templates/generate.py b/.github/workflows/templates/generate.py
index 4d20657..c5400c4 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/templates/generate.py
+++ b/.github/workflows/templates/generate.py
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def print_upgrade_steps():
 
 def generate_test_jobs():
     test_jobs = ""
-    needs = ["lint", "generate-actions-workflow"]
+    needs = ["lint", "linux-unit-tests", "generate-actions-workflow"]
 
     test_jobs += "\n"
     for distro in WINDOWS:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-linux.yml b/.github/workflows/test-linux.yml
index 8146dcc..a8d9550 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-linux.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-linux.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ jobs:
 
     timeout-minutes: ${{ inputs.timeout }}
     strategy:
-      max-parallel: 2
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         instance: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.instances) }}
diff --git a/linux/svtminion.sh b/linux/svtminion.sh
index 85950a5..fee0d97 100755
--- a/linux/svtminion.sh
+++ b/linux/svtminion.sh
@@ -692,6 +692,12 @@ _fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_tools_conf() {
                     fi
                 elif [[ ${salt_config_flag} -eq 1 ]]; then
                     # read config ahead of section check, better logic flow
+                    if [[ "${line_value}" != *=* ]]; then
+                        _warning_log "$0:${FUNCNAME[0]} ignoring invalid "\
+                            "config line '${line}' (expected key=value) "\
+                            "from ${vmtools_conf_file}"
+                        continue
+                    fi
                     cfg_key=$(echo "${line}" | cut -d '=' -f 1)
                     cfg_value=$(echo "${line}" | cut -d '=' -f 2)
                     _update_minion_conf_ary "${cfg_key}" "${cfg_value}" || {
@@ -741,6 +747,12 @@ _fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_guestvars() {
 
     for idx in ${gvar_args}
     do
+        if [[ "${idx}" != *=* ]]; then
+            _warning_log "$0:${FUNCNAME[0]} ignoring invalid config token "\
+                "'${idx}' (expected key=value) from guest variables "\
+                "location ${guestvars_salt_args}"
+            continue
+        fi
         cfg_key=$(echo "${idx}" | cut -d '=' -f 1)
         cfg_value=$(echo "${idx}" | cut -d '=' -f 2)
         _update_minion_conf_ary "${cfg_key}" "${cfg_value}" || {
@@ -782,6 +794,12 @@ _fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_cli_args() {
             if [[ "${idx}" = --* ]]; then
                 break
             fi
+            if [[ "${idx}" != *=* ]]; then
+                _warning_log "$0:${FUNCNAME[0]} ignoring invalid config "\
+                    "token '${idx}' (expected key=value) from command "\
+                    "line arguments"
+                continue
+            fi
             cfg_key=$(echo "${idx}" | cut -d '=' -f 1)
             cfg_value=$(echo "${idx}" | cut -d '=' -f 2)
             _update_minion_conf_ary "${cfg_key}" "${cfg_value}" || {
diff --git a/tests/linux/test_minion_conf_parsing.sh b/tests/linux/test_minion_conf_parsing.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aec3482
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/linux/test_minion_conf_parsing.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Lightweight, fixture-free regression test for linux/svtminion.sh's minion
+# config-parsing logic (_update_minion_conf_ary /
+# _fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_guestvars /
+# _fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_tools_conf).
+#
+# Reproduces https://github.com/saltstack/salt-vmtools/issues/70: when the
+# guestVar `vmware.components.salt_minion.args` (or a `tools.conf`
+# `[salt_minion]` section) is populated with a raw CLI-argument string
+# instead of the documented space-delimited `key=value` pairs, every
+# whitespace-separated token -- switches, versions, URLs alike -- was being
+# written to the minion config as a bogus self-mapped `token: token` entry.
+#
+# Like test_version_resolution.sh, this does not perform a real install and
+# is not currently wired into CI (.github/workflows/test-linux.yml) -- it's
+# meant to be run manually.
+#
+# Run directly: bash tests/linux/test_minion_conf_parsing.sh
+
+set -o nounset
+set -o errexit
+set -o pipefail
+
+_test_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+_repo_root="$(cd "${_test_dir}/../.." && pwd)"
+_script="${_repo_root}/linux/svtminion.sh"
+
+# Stub the logging functions the functions under test depend on so they can
+# run standalone without the rest of svtminion.sh's global state.
+_error_log() { echo "ERROR: $*" 1>&2; }
+_warning_log() { echo "WARNING: $*" 1>&2; }
+_info_log() { :; }
+_debug_log() { :; }
+
+# guestvars_salt_args is normally a readonly global set up earlier in the
+# real script; the function under test only reads it, so stub it here.
+guestvars_salt_args="guestinfo.vmware.components.salt_minion.args"
+
+# Extract the functions under test verbatim from the real script, so this
+# test always exercises the current implementation rather than a
+# hand-copied duplicate that could drift out of sync.
+_extracted="$(mktemp)"
+_fixture_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -f "${_extracted}"; rm -rf "${_fixture_dir}"' EXIT
+
+sed -n '/^_update_minion_conf_ary() {/,/^}/p' "${_script}" > "${_extracted}"
+sed -n '/^_fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_guestvars() {/,/^}/p' "${_script}" >> "${_extracted}"
+
+# shellcheck disable=SC1090
+source "${_extracted}"
+
+_failed=0
+
+# Mock `vmtoolsd --cmd "info-get ${guestvars_salt_args}"` the same way the
+# real function invokes it.
+vmtoolsd() {
+    if [[ "$1" = "--cmd" && "$2" = "info-get ${guestvars_salt_args}" ]]; then
+        echo "${_MOCK_GVAR_ARGS}"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    return 1
+}
+
+_reset_conf_ary() {
+    m_cfg_keys=()
+    m_cfg_values=()
+}
+
+# --- Case 1: CLI-style switches leaking into the guestVar must not produce
+# --- any bogus config entries (the reported bug).
+_reset_conf_ary
+_MOCK_GVAR_ARGS="--minionversion 3007.1 --source http://example.com/artifactory/saltproject-generic/onedir --loglevel debug"
+_fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_guestvars
+
+if [[ ${#m_cfg_keys[@]} -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo "FAILED: CLI-style guestVar args produced ${#m_cfg_keys[@]} bogus config" \
+        "entries (expected 0): ${m_cfg_keys[*]}"
+    _failed=1
+else
+    echo "OK: CLI-style guestVar args produced no bogus config entries"
+fi
+
+# --- Case 2: legitimate key=value guestVar args must still work.
+_reset_conf_ary
+_MOCK_GVAR_ARGS="master=gv_master id=gv_minion"
+_fetch_vmtools_salt_minion_conf_guestvars
+
+_found_master=0
+_found_id=0
+for ((_i=0; _i<${#m_cfg_keys[@]}; _i++)); do
+    if [[ "${m_cfg_keys[${_i}]}" = "master" && "${m_cfg_values[${_i}]}" = "gv_master" ]]; then
+        _found_master=1
+    fi
+    if [[ "${m_cfg_keys[${_i}]}" = "id" && "${m_cfg_values[${_i}]}" = "gv_minion" ]]; then
+        _found_id=1
+    fi
+done
+
+if [[ ${_found_master} -ne 1 || ${_found_id} -ne 1 ]]; then
+    echo "FAILED: valid key=value guestVar args were not parsed correctly:" \
+        "keys='${m_cfg_keys[*]:-}' values='${m_cfg_values[*]:-}'"
+    _failed=1
+else
+    echo "OK: valid key=value guestVar args parsed correctly"
+fi
+
+if [[ "${_failed}" -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo "test_minion_conf_parsing.sh: FAILED"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "test_minion_conf_parsing.sh: All tests passed"
+exit 0