diff --git a/src/core/execute-serialize.c b/src/core/execute-serialize.c
index 1ae77f39fb..9e402e5e69 100644
--- a/src/core/execute-serialize.c
+++ b/src/core/execute-serialize.c
@@ -2544,14 +2544,14 @@ static int exec_context_serialize(const ExecContext *c, FILE *f) {
                 if (base64mem(sc->data, sc->size, &data) < 0)
                         return log_oom_debug();
 
-                r = serialize_item_format(f, "exec-context-set-credentials", "%s %s %s", sc->id, yes_no(sc->encrypted), data);
+                r = serialize_item_format(f, "exec-context-set-credentials", "%s %s %s", sc->id, data, yes_no(sc->encrypted));
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
         }
 
         ExecLoadCredential *lc;
         HASHMAP_FOREACH(lc, c->load_credentials) {
-                r = serialize_item_format(f, "exec-context-load-credentials", "%s %s %s", lc->id, yes_no(lc->encrypted), lc->path);
+                r = serialize_item_format(f, "exec-context-load-credentials", "%s %s %s", lc->id, lc->path, yes_no(lc->encrypted));
                 if (r < 0)
                         return r;
         }
@@ -3668,7 +3668,7 @@ static int exec_context_deserialize(ExecContext *c, FILE *f) {
                         _cleanup_(exec_set_credential_freep) ExecSetCredential *sc = NULL;
                         _cleanup_free_ char *id = NULL, *encrypted = NULL, *data = NULL;
 
-                        r = extract_many_words(&val, " ", 0, &id, &encrypted, &data);
+                        r = extract_many_words(&val, " ", EXTRACT_DONT_COALESCE_SEPARATORS, &id, &data, &encrypted);
                         if (r < 0)
                                 return r;
                         if (r != 3)
@@ -3700,7 +3700,7 @@ static int exec_context_deserialize(ExecContext *c, FILE *f) {
                         _cleanup_(exec_load_credential_freep) ExecLoadCredential *lc = NULL;
                         _cleanup_free_ char *id = NULL, *encrypted = NULL, *path = NULL;
 
-                        r = extract_many_words(&val, " ", 0, &id, &encrypted, &path);
+                        r = extract_many_words(&val, " ", EXTRACT_DONT_COALESCE_SEPARATORS, &id, &path, &encrypted);
                         if (r < 0)
                                 return r;
                         if (r != 3)
diff --git a/test/units/end.sh b/test/units/end.sh
index 4c6c0afa0e..5e2943758a 100755
--- a/test/units/end.sh
+++ b/test/units/end.sh
@@ -9,5 +9,9 @@ set -o pipefail
 # Here, the redundant '[ ]' in the pattern is required in order not to match the logged command itself.
 (! journalctl -q -o short-monotonic --grep 'Warning: cannot close sd-bus connection[ ].*after fork' >>/failed)
 
+# Check if sd-executor doesn't complain about not being able to (de)serialize stuff
+(! journalctl -q -o short-monotonic --grep "[F]ailed to parse serialized line" >>/failed)
+(! journalctl -q -o short-monotonic --grep "[F]ailed to (de)?serialize \w+" >>/failed)
+
 systemctl poweroff --no-block
 exit 0
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-54.sh b/test/units/testsuite-54.sh
index 7618e92c9f..3ed81f4359 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-54.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-54.sh
@@ -8,13 +8,20 @@ set -eux
 
 systemd-analyze log-level debug
 
-run_with_cred_compare() {
+run_with_cred_compare() (
     local cred="${1:?}"
     local exp="${2?}"
+    local log_file
     shift 2
 
-    diff <(systemd-run -p SetCredential="$cred" --wait --pipe -- systemd-creds "$@") <(echo -ne "$exp")
-}
+    log_file="$(mktemp)"
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2064
+    trap "rm -f '$log_file'" RETURN
+
+    set -o pipefail
+    systemd-run -p SetCredential="$cred" --wait --pipe -- systemd-creds "$@" | tee "$log_file"
+    diff "$log_file" <(echo -ne "$exp")
+)
 
 # Sanity checks
 #
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-74.coredump.sh b/test/units/testsuite-74.coredump.sh
index 6552643ee9..f48607c0db 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-74.coredump.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-74.coredump.sh
@@ -77,24 +77,26 @@ rm -fv /run/systemd/coredump.conf.d/99-external.conf
 # Wait a bit for the coredumps to get processed
 timeout 30 bash -c "while [[ \$(coredumpctl list -q --no-legend $CORE_TEST_BIN | wc -l) -lt 4 ]]; do sleep 1; done"
 
-# Make sure we can forward crashes back to containers
-CONTAINER="testsuite-74-container"
+if cgroupfs_supports_user_xattrs; then
+    # Make sure we can forward crashes back to containers
+    CONTAINER="testsuite-74-container"
 
-mkdir -p "/var/lib/machines/$CONTAINER"
-mkdir -p "/run/systemd/system/systemd-nspawn@$CONTAINER.service.d"
-# Bind-mounting /etc into the container kinda defeats the purpose of --volatile=,
-# but we need the ASan-related overrides scattered across /etc
-cat > "/run/systemd/system/systemd-nspawn@$CONTAINER.service.d/override.conf" << EOF
+    mkdir -p "/var/lib/machines/$CONTAINER"
+    mkdir -p "/run/systemd/system/systemd-nspawn@$CONTAINER.service.d"
+    # Bind-mounting /etc into the container kinda defeats the purpose of --volatile=,
+    # but we need the ASan-related overrides scattered across /etc
+    cat > "/run/systemd/system/systemd-nspawn@$CONTAINER.service.d/override.conf" <<EOF
 [Service]
 ExecStart=
 ExecStart=systemd-nspawn --quiet --link-journal=try-guest --keep-unit --machine=%i --boot \
                          --volatile=yes --directory=/ --bind-ro=/etc --inaccessible=/etc/machine-id
 EOF
-systemctl daemon-reload
+    systemctl daemon-reload
+
+    [[ "$(systemd-detect-virt)" == "qemu" ]] && TIMEOUT=120 || TIMEOUT=60
 
-if cgroupfs_supports_user_xattrs; then
     machinectl start "$CONTAINER"
-    timeout 60 bash -xec "until systemd-run -M '$CONTAINER' -q --wait --pipe true; do sleep .5; done"
+    timeout "$TIMEOUT" bash -xec "until systemd-run -M '$CONTAINER' -q --wait --pipe true; do sleep .5; done"
 
     [[ "$(systemd-run -M "$CONTAINER" -q --wait --pipe coredumpctl list -q --no-legend /usr/bin/sleep | wc -l)" -eq 0 ]]
     machinectl copy-to "$CONTAINER" "$MAKE_DUMP_SCRIPT"
@@ -102,6 +104,8 @@ if cgroupfs_supports_user_xattrs; then
     systemd-run -M "$CONTAINER" -q --wait --pipe "$MAKE_DUMP_SCRIPT" "/usr/bin/sleep" "SIGTRAP"
     # Wait a bit for the coredumps to get processed
     timeout 30 bash -c "while [[ \$(systemd-run -M $CONTAINER -q --wait --pipe coredumpctl list -q --no-legend /usr/bin/sleep | wc -l) -lt 2 ]]; do sleep 1; done"
+
+    rm -rf "/var/lib/machines/$CONTAINER"
 fi
 
 coredumpctl