diff --git a/src/kmscon_conf.c b/src/kmscon_conf.c
index d0006b4..65b7c53 100644
--- a/src/kmscon_conf.c
+++ b/src/kmscon_conf.c
@@ -375,28 +375,6 @@ static int aftercheck_help(struct conf_option *opt, int argc, char **argv,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int aftercheck_seats(struct conf_option *opt, int argc, char **argv,
-			    int idx)
-{
-	struct kmscon_conf_t *conf = KMSCON_CONF_FROM_FIELD(opt->mem, seats);
-
-	if (conf->seats[0] &&
-	    !conf->seats[1] &&
-	    !strcmp(conf->seats[0], "all"))
-		conf->all_seats = true;
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static int copy_seats(struct conf_option *opt, const struct conf_option *src)
-{
-	struct kmscon_conf_t *conf = KMSCON_CONF_FROM_FIELD(opt->mem, seats);
-	struct kmscon_conf_t *s = KMSCON_CONF_FROM_FIELD(src->mem, seats);
-
-	conf->all_seats = s->all_seats;
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static int aftercheck_drm(struct conf_option *opt, int argc, char **argv,
 			  int idx)
 {
@@ -470,7 +448,7 @@ int kmscon_conf_new(struct conf_ctx **out)
 		/* Seat Options */
 		CONF_OPTION(0, 0, "vt", &conf_vt, NULL, NULL, NULL, &conf->vt, NULL),
 		CONF_OPTION_BOOL('s', "switchvt", &conf->switchvt, true),
-		CONF_OPTION_STRING_LIST_FULL(0, "seats", aftercheck_seats, copy_seats, NULL, &conf->seats, def_seats),
+		CONF_OPTION_STRING_LIST(0, "seats", &conf->seats, def_seats),
 
 		/* Session Options */
 		CONF_OPTION_UINT(0, "session-max", &conf->session_max, 50),
diff --git a/src/kmscon_conf.h b/src/kmscon_conf.h
index eb3db9b..cbb2b6e 100644
--- a/src/kmscon_conf.h
+++ b/src/kmscon_conf.h
@@ -57,8 +57,6 @@ struct kmscon_conf_t {
 	bool switchvt;
 	/* seats */
 	char **seats;
-	/* true if \seats is "all" */
-	bool all_seats;
 
 	/* Session Options */
 	/* sessions */
diff --git a/src/kmscon_main.c b/src/kmscon_main.c
index 970bc91..12d59e5 100644
--- a/src/kmscon_main.c
+++ b/src/kmscon_main.c
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ static int app_seat_new(struct kmscon_app *app, struct app_seat **out,
 	bool found;
 
 	found = false;
-	if (app->conf->all_seats) {
+	if (shl_string_list_is(app->conf->seats, "all")) {
 		found = true;
 	} else {
 		for (i = 0; app->conf->seats[i]; ++i) {
diff --git a/src/shl_misc.h b/src/shl_misc.h
index eb21ad4..f05434d 100644
--- a/src/shl_misc.h
+++ b/src/shl_misc.h
@@ -189,6 +189,16 @@ static inline int shl_dup_array(char ***out, char **argv)
 	return shl_dup_array_size(out, argv, i);
 }
 
+/* returns true if the string-list contains only a single entry \entry */
+static inline bool shl_string_list_is(char **list, const char *entry)
+{
+	if (!list || !entry)
+		return false;
+	if (!list[0] || list[1])
+		return false;
+	return !strcmp(list[0], entry);
+}
+
 /* TODO: xkbcommon should provide these flags!
  * We currently copy them into each library API we use so we need  to keep
  * them in sync. Currently, they're used in uterm-input and tsm-vte. */