diff --git a/osc/OscConfigParser.py b/osc/OscConfigParser.py
index 90fa94e5..1a738ff2 100644
--- a/osc/OscConfigParser.py
+++ b/osc/OscConfigParser.py
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ class OptionLine(Line):
     def format(self, line):
         mo = ConfigParser.ConfigParser.OPTCRE.match(line.strip())
         key, val = mo.group('option', 'value')
+        # escape all occurrences of '%' otherwise string formatting will fail
+        line = line.replace('%', '%%')
         self.frmt = line.replace(key.strip(), '%s', 1)
         pos = val.find(' ;')
         if pos >= 0:
diff --git a/osc/conf.py b/osc/conf.py
index eefec2db..c58944ee 100644
--- a/osc/conf.py
+++ b/osc/conf.py
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ def write_initial_config(conffile, entries, custom_template = ''):
     try:
         try:
             os.chmod(conffile, 0600)
-            cp.write(file)
+            cp.write(file, True)
         except IOError, e:
             raise oscerr.OscIOError(e, 'cannot write configfile \'s\'' % conffile)
     finally: