diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
index 15e32d0ae870..fd29cd8d84cb 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -751,6 +751,47 @@ def _open_file_or_url(fname):
             yield f
 
 
+def _strip_comment(line):
+    """
+    Strip line and remove comment line.
+    Only removes comments at the start of a line (may have leading whitespace)
+    """
+    line = line.strip()
+    if re.match('^#', line):  # line starts with a comment
+        line = ''
+    return line
+
+
+def _parse_keyval(key, val):
+    """
+    Parse a key-value pair.
+    We are only passing key in case we want to conditionally allow quoted strings
+    """
+    # remove whitespace
+    val = val.strip()
+    # regex
+    quoted = re.compile(r"""
+                        ^                # beginning of line
+                        (?P<quote>['"])  # $1: opening quote (cannot make this non-capturing)
+                        (. *?)           # $2: non-greedy anything, the quoted text
+                        (?P=quote)       # closing quote, not stored
+                        (. *?)           # $3: non-greedy anything, the rest
+                        $                # end of line
+                        """, re.VERBOSE)
+    match = quoted.match(val)
+    if match: # a quoted string
+        val2 = match.group(2)
+        # ensure the rest is just a comment
+        rest = match.group(3).strip()
+        if rest and not re.match('^#', rest):
+            return None  # let it fail
+    else: # treat as a regular value
+        val2 = val.split('#', 1)[0]  # remove optional comments at the end
+    val2 = val2.strip()
+
+    return val2
+
+
 def _rc_params_in_file(fname, transform=lambda x: x, fail_on_error=False):
     """
     Construct a `RcParams` instance from file *fname*.
@@ -773,7 +814,7 @@ def _rc_params_in_file(fname, transform=lambda x: x, fail_on_error=False):
         try:
             for line_no, line in enumerate(fd, 1):
                 line = transform(line)
-                strippedline = line.split('#', 1)[0].strip()
+                strippedline = _strip_comment(line).strip()
                 if not strippedline:
                     continue
                 tup = strippedline.split(':', 1)
@@ -784,6 +825,11 @@ def _rc_params_in_file(fname, transform=lambda x: x, fail_on_error=False):
                 key, val = tup
                 key = key.strip()
                 val = val.strip()
+                val = _parse_keyval(key, val)
+                if val is None:
+                    _log.warning('Cannot parse key value in file %r, line %d (%r)',
+                                fname, line_no, line.rstrip('\n'))
+                    continue
                 if key in rc_temp:
                     _log.warning('Duplicate key in file %r, line %d (%r)',
                                  fname, line_no, line.rstrip('\n'))