diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index a1a625d..0fc3bf0 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ PL_LOG_COMPILER = $(PERL)
 AM_PL_LOG_FLAGS = -Mstrict -w \
 	-I'$(abs_top_builddir)' \
 	-I'$(abs_top_srcdir)'/t/lib
-handwritten_tests =
+handwritten_tests = \
+	t/parse_assignments.pl
 generated_tests = \
 	t/version.pl
 TESTS = $(handwritten_tests) $(generated_tests)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a6327d2..7aa257f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -30,8 +30,17 @@ m4_foreach_w([_m], [
   ], [AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES([_m], [],
          [AC_MSG_ERROR([missing required Perl module _m])])])
 
-# Perl modules required for tests. Only prints a warning if not
-# installed.
+# Perl modules required for tests. If these modules are not installed
+# then some tests will fail. Only prints a warning if not installed.
+m4_foreach_w([_m], [
+    Data::Dumper
+    Test::More
+  ], [AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES([_m], [],
+         [AC_MSG_WARN([some tests will fail due to missing module _m])])])
+
+# Optional Perl modules for tests. If these modules are not installed
+# then some tests will be skipped, but no tests should fail. Only
+# prints a warning if not installed.
 m4_foreach_w([_m], [
     Test::Warnings
   ], [AX_PROG_PERL_MODULES([_m], [],
diff --git a/ddclient.in b/ddclient.in
index 247bf7f..2c911eb 100755
--- a/ddclient.in
+++ b/ddclient.in
@@ -1055,11 +1055,10 @@ sub read_cache {
 sub parse_assignments {
     my ($rest) = @_;
     my %variables = ();
-    my ($name, $value);
 
     while (1) {
-        $rest =~ s/^\s+//;
-        ($name, $value, $rest) = parse_assignment($rest);
+        (my $name, my $value, $rest) = parse_assignment($rest);
+        $rest =~ s/^[,\s]+//;
         if (defined $name) {
             if ($name eq 'fw-banlocal') {
                 warning("'fw-banlocal' is deprecated and does nothing");
@@ -1074,14 +1073,13 @@ sub parse_assignments {
 }
 sub parse_assignment {
     my ($rest) = @_;
-    my ($c, $name, $value);
+    my ($name, $value);
     my ($escape, $quote) = (0, '');
 
-    if ($rest =~ /^\s*([a-z][0-9a-z_-]*)=(.*)/i) {
+    if ($rest =~ /^[,\s]*([a-z][0-9a-z_-]*)=(.*)/i) {
         ($name, $rest, $value) = ($1, $2, '');
 
-        while (length($c = substr($rest, 0, 1))) {
-            $rest = substr($rest,1);
+        while (length(my $c = substr($rest, 0, 1))) {
             if ($escape) {
                 $value .= $c;
                 $escape = 0;
@@ -1092,13 +1090,16 @@ sub parse_assignment {
             } elsif (!$quote && $c =~ /[\'\"]/) {
                 $quote = $c;
             } elsif (!$quote && $c =~ /^[\n\s,]/) {
+                # The terminating character is not consumed.
                 last;
             } else {
                 $value .= $c;
             }
+            $rest = substr($rest,1);
         }
     }
-    warning("assignment ended with an open quote") if $quote;
+    warning("assignment to '%s' ended with the escape character (\\)", $name) if $escape;
+    warning("assignment to '%s' ended with an unterminated quote (%s)", $name, $quote) if $quote;
     return ($name, $value, $rest);
 }
 ######################################################################
diff --git a/t/parse_assignments.pl b/t/parse_assignments.pl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e6e1477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/parse_assignments.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+use Test::More;
+use Data::Dumper;
+
+SKIP: { eval { require Test::Warnings; } or skip($@, 1); }
+eval { require 'ddclient'; } or BAIL_OUT($@);
+
+$Data::Dumper::Sortkeys = 1;
+
+sub tc {
+    return {
+        name => shift,
+        input => shift,
+        want_vars => shift,
+        want_rest => shift,
+    };
+}
+
+my @test_cases = (
+    tc('no assignments',             "",             {},                     ""),
+    tc('one assignment',             "a=1",          { a => '1' },           ""),
+    tc('empty value',                "a=",           { a => '' },            ""),
+    tc('sep: comma',                 "a=1,b=2",      { a => '1', b => '2' }, ""),
+    tc('sep: space',                 "a=1 b=2",      { a => '1', b => '2' }, ""),
+    tc('sep: comma space',           "a=1, b=2",     { a => '1', b => '2' }, ""),
+    tc('sep: space comma',           "a=1 ,b=2",     { a => '1', b => '2' }, ""),
+    tc('sep: space comma space',     "a=1 , b=2",    { a => '1', b => '2' }, ""),
+    tc('leading space',              " a=1",         { a => '1' },           ""),
+    tc('trailing space',             "a=1 ",         { a => '1' },           ""),
+    tc('leading comma',              ",a=1",         { a => '1' },           ""),
+    tc('trailing comma',             "a=1,",         { a => '1' },           ""),
+    tc('empty assignment',           "a=1,,b=2",     { a => '1', b => '2' }, ""),
+    tc('rest',                       "a",            {},                     "a"),
+    tc('rest leading space',         " x",           {},                     "x"),
+    tc('rest trailing space',        "x ",           {},                     "x "),
+    tc('rest leading comma',         ",x",           {},                     "x"),
+    tc('rest trailing comma',        "x,",           {},                     "x,"),
+    tc('assign space rest',          "a=1 x",        { a => '1' },           "x"),
+    tc('assign comma rest',          "a=1,x",        { a => '1' },           "x"),
+    tc('assign comma space rest',    "a=1, x",       { a => '1' },           "x"),
+    tc('assign space comma rest',    "a=1 ,x",       { a => '1' },           "x"),
+    tc('single quoting',             "a='\", '",     { a => '", ' },         ""),
+    tc('double quoting',             "a=\"', \"",    { a => "', " },         ""),
+    tc('mixed quoting',              "a=1\"2\"'3'4", { a => "1234" },        ""),
+    tc('unquoted escaped backslash', "a=\\\\",       { a => "\\" },          ""),
+    tc('squoted escaped squote',     "a='\\''",      { a => "'" },           ""),
+    tc('dquoted escaped dquote',     "a=\"\\\"\"",   { a => '"' },           ""),
+);
+
+for my $tc (@test_cases) {
+    my ($got_rest, %got_vars) = ddclient::parse_assignments($tc->{input});
+    is(Dumper(\%got_vars), Dumper($tc->{want_vars}), "$tc->{name}: vars");
+    is($got_rest, $tc->{want_rest}, "$tc->{name}: rest");
+}
+
+done_testing();