diff --git a/fs/config/configmap/configmap.go b/fs/config/configmap/configmap.go
index ee8d4918f..d52514ef2 100644
--- a/fs/config/configmap/configmap.go
+++ b/fs/config/configmap/configmap.go
@@ -136,9 +136,11 @@ func (c Simple) Set(key, value string) {
 	c[key] = value
 }
 
-// String the map value the same way the config parser does, but with
+// string the map value the same way the config parser does, but with
 // sorted keys for reproducibility.
-func (c Simple) String() string {
+//
+// If human is set then use fewer quotes.
+func (c Simple) string(human bool) string {
 	var ks = make([]string, 0, len(c))
 	for k := range c {
 		ks = append(ks, k)
@@ -150,20 +152,41 @@ func (c Simple) String() string {
 			out.WriteRune(',')
 		}
 		out.WriteString(k)
-		out.WriteRune('=')
-		out.WriteRune('\'')
-		for _, ch := range c[k] {
-			out.WriteRune(ch)
-			// Escape ' as ''
-			if ch == '\'' {
-				out.WriteRune(ch)
-			}
+		v := c[k]
+		if human && v == "true" {
+			continue
+		}
+		out.WriteRune('=')
+		if !human || strings.ContainsAny(v, `'":=,`) {
+			out.WriteRune('\'')
+			for _, ch := range v {
+				out.WriteRune(ch)
+				// Escape ' as ''
+				if ch == '\'' {
+					out.WriteRune(ch)
+				}
+			}
+			out.WriteRune('\'')
+		} else {
+			out.WriteString(v)
 		}
-		out.WriteRune('\'')
 	}
 	return out.String()
 }
 
+// Human converts the map value the same way the config parser does,
+// but with sorted keys for reproducibility. This does it in human
+// readable form with fewer quotes.
+func (c Simple) Human() string {
+	return c.string(true)
+}
+
+// String the map value the same way the config parser does, but with
+// sorted keys for reproducibility.
+func (c Simple) String() string {
+	return c.string(false)
+}
+
 // Encode from c into a string suitable for putting on the command line
 func (c Simple) Encode() (string, error) {
 	if len(c) == 0 {
diff --git a/fs/config/configmap/configmap_external_test.go b/fs/config/configmap/configmap_external_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..236f02933
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs/config/configmap/configmap_external_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+package configmap_test
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/config/configmap"
+	"github.com/rclone/rclone/fs/fspath"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestSimpleString(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range []struct {
+		name string
+		want string
+		in   configmap.Simple
+	}{
+		{name: "Nil", want: "", in: configmap.Simple(nil)},
+		{name: "Empty", want: "", in: configmap.Simple{}},
+		{name: "Basic", want: "config1='one'", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": "one",
+		}},
+		{name: "Truthy", want: "config1='true',config2='true'", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": "true",
+			"config2": "true",
+		}},
+		{name: "Quotable", want: `config1='"one"',config2=':two:',config3='''three''',config4='=four=',config5=',five,'`, in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": `"one"`,
+			"config2": `:two:`,
+			"config3": `'three'`,
+			"config4": `=four=`,
+			"config5": `,five,`,
+		}},
+		{name: "Order", want: "config1='one',config2='two',config3='three',config4='four',config5='five'", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config5": "five",
+			"config4": "four",
+			"config3": "three",
+			"config2": "two",
+			"config1": "one",
+		}},
+		{name: "Escaping", want: "apple='',config1='o''n''e'", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": "o'n'e",
+			"apple":   "",
+		}},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			// Check forwards
+			params := tt.in.String()
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, params)
+
+			// Check config round trips through config parser
+			remote := ":local," + params + ":"
+			if params == "" {
+				remote = ":local:"
+			}
+			what := fmt.Sprintf("remote = %q", remote)
+			parsed, err := fspath.Parse(remote)
+			require.NoError(t, err, what)
+			if len(parsed.Config) != 0 || len(tt.in) != 0 {
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.in, parsed.Config, what)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+}
+
+func TestSimpleHuman(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tt := range []struct {
+		name string
+		want string
+		in   configmap.Simple
+	}{
+		{name: "Nil", want: "", in: configmap.Simple(nil)},
+		{name: "Empty", want: "", in: configmap.Simple{}},
+		{name: "Basic", want: "config1=one", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": "one",
+		}},
+		{name: "Truthy", want: "config1,config2", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": "true",
+			"config2": "true",
+		}},
+		{name: "Quotable", want: `config1='"one"',config2=':two:',config3='''three''',config4='=four=',config5=',five,'`, in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": `"one"`,
+			"config2": `:two:`,
+			"config3": `'three'`,
+			"config4": `=four=`,
+			"config5": `,five,`,
+		}},
+		{name: "Order", want: "config1=one,config2=two,config3=three,config4=four,config5=five", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config5": "five",
+			"config4": "four",
+			"config3": "three",
+			"config2": "two",
+			"config1": "one",
+		}},
+		{name: "Escaping", want: "apple=,config1='o''n''e'", in: configmap.Simple{
+			"config1": "o'n'e",
+			"apple":   "",
+		}},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			// Check forwards
+			params := tt.in.Human()
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, params)
+
+			// Check config round trips through config parser
+			remote := ":local," + params + ":"
+			if params == "" {
+				remote = ":local:"
+			}
+			what := fmt.Sprintf("remote = %q", remote)
+			parsed, err := fspath.Parse(remote)
+			require.NoError(t, err, what)
+			if len(parsed.Config) != 0 || len(tt.in) != 0 {
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.in, parsed.Config, what)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/fs/config/configmap/configmap_test.go b/fs/config/configmap/configmap_test.go
index 85d4686f1..b68847360 100644
--- a/fs/config/configmap/configmap_test.go
+++ b/fs/config/configmap/configmap_test.go
@@ -246,30 +246,6 @@ func TestConfigMapClearSetters(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, []Setter(nil), m.setters)
 }
 
-func TestSimpleString(t *testing.T) {
-	// Basic
-	assert.Equal(t, "", Simple(nil).String())
-	assert.Equal(t, "", Simple{}.String())
-	assert.Equal(t, "config1='one'", Simple{
-		"config1": "one",
-	}.String())
-
-	// Check ordering
-	assert.Equal(t, "config1='one',config2='two',config3='three',config4='four',config5='five'", Simple{
-		"config5": "five",
-		"config4": "four",
-		"config3": "three",
-		"config2": "two",
-		"config1": "one",
-	}.String())
-
-	// Check escaping
-	assert.Equal(t, "apple='',config1='o''n''e'", Simple{
-		"config1": "o'n'e",
-		"apple":   "",
-	}.String())
-}
-
 func TestSimpleEncode(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range []struct {
 		in   Simple