diff --git a/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.spec.ts b/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..5aadd8c0464aa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { logger } from '../../../../logger';
+import { migrateAndValidateConfig } from './util';
+
+describe('workers/global/config/parse/util', () => {
+  it('massages config', async () => {
+    const config = {
+      packageRules: [
+        {
+          description: 'haha',
+          matchPackageNames: ['name'],
+          enabled: false,
+        },
+      ],
+    };
+
+    const migratedConfig = await migrateAndValidateConfig(config, 'global');
+    expect(migratedConfig?.packageRules?.[0].description).toBeArray();
+    expect(logger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.ts b/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.ts
index d64af64fffae24..9d007c8df4b4d8 100644
--- a/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/global/config/parse/util.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { dequal } from 'dequal';
+import { massageConfig } from '../../../../config/massage';
 import { migrateConfig } from '../../../../config/migration';
 import type { RenovateConfig } from '../../../../config/types';
 import { validateConfig } from '../../../../config/validation';
@@ -14,8 +16,13 @@ export async function migrateAndValidateConfig(
       `${configType} needs migrating`,
     );
   }
+  const massagedConfig = massageConfig(migratedConfig);
+  // log only if it's changed
+  if (!dequal(migratedConfig, massagedConfig)) {
+    logger.trace({ config: massagedConfig }, 'Post-massage config');
+  }
 
-  const { warnings, errors } = await validateConfig('global', migratedConfig);
+  const { warnings, errors } = await validateConfig('global', massagedConfig);
 
   if (warnings.length) {
     logger.warn(
@@ -27,5 +34,5 @@ export async function migrateAndValidateConfig(
     logger.warn({ errors }, `Config validation errors found in ${configType}`);
   }
 
-  return migratedConfig;
+  return massagedConfig;
 }