diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/ini.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/ini.py
index 0e68816dc3..5881930e9f 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/ini.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/ini.py
@@ -19,12 +19,41 @@ __metaclass__ = type
 
 from io import StringIO
 import os
-import ConfigParser
 import re
 
+try:
+    # python2
+    import ConfigParser as configparser
+except ImportError:
+    # python3
+    import configparser
+
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
 from ansible.plugins.lookup import LookupBase
 
+
+def _parse_params(term):
+    '''Safely split parameter term to preserve spaces'''
+
+    keys = ['key', 'section', 'file', 're']
+    params = {}
+    for k in keys:
+        params[k] = ''
+
+    thiskey = 'key'
+    for idp,phrase in enumerate(term.split()):
+        for k in keys:
+            if ('%s=' % k) in phrase:
+                thiskey = k
+        if idp == 0 or not params[thiskey]:
+            params[thiskey] = phrase
+        else:
+            params[thiskey] += ' ' + phrase
+
+    rparams = [params[x] for x in keys if params[x]]
+    return rparams
+
+
 class LookupModule(LookupBase):
 
     def read_properties(self, filename, key, dflt, is_regexp):
@@ -46,7 +75,7 @@ class LookupModule(LookupBase):
         # Retrieve a single value
         try:
             value = self.cp.get(section, key)
-        except ConfigParser.NoOptionError:
+        except configparser.NoOptionError:
             return dflt
         return value
 
@@ -54,11 +83,11 @@ class LookupModule(LookupBase):
 
         basedir = self.get_basedir(variables)
         self.basedir = basedir
-        self.cp      = ConfigParser.ConfigParser()
+        self.cp      = configparser.ConfigParser()
 
         ret = []
         for term in terms:
-            params = term.split()
+            params = _parse_params(term)
             key = params[0]
 
             paramvals = {
diff --git a/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_ini.py b/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_ini.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aeb6c2e067
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/units/plugins/lookup/test_ini.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# (c) 2015, Toshio Kuratomi <tkuratomi@ansible.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# Make coding more python3-ish
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+from ansible.compat.tests import unittest
+from ansible.plugins.lookup.ini import _parse_params
+
+
+class TestINILookup(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    # Currently there isn't a new-style
+    old_style_params_data = (
+            # Simple case
+            dict(term=u'keyA section=sectionA file=/path/to/file',
+                expected=[u'keyA', u'section=sectionA', u'file=/path/to/file'],
+                ),
+            dict(term=u'keyB section=sectionB with space file=/path/with/embedded spaces and/file',
+                expected=[u'keyB', u'section=sectionB with space', u'file=/path/with/embedded spaces and/file'],
+                ),
+            dict(term=u'keyC section=sectionC file=/path/with/equals/cn=com.ansible',
+                expected=[u'keyC', u'section=sectionC', u'file=/path/with/equals/cn=com.ansible'],
+                ),
+            dict(term=u'keyD section=sectionD file=/path/with space and/equals/cn=com.ansible',
+                expected=[u'keyD', u'section=sectionD', u'file=/path/with space and/equals/cn=com.ansible'],
+                ),
+            dict(term=u'keyE section=sectionE file=/path/with/unicode/くらとみ/file',
+                expected=[u'keyE', u'section=sectionE', u'file=/path/with/unicode/くらとみ/file'],
+                ),
+            dict(term=u'keyF section=sectionF file=/path/with/utf 8 and spaces/くらとみ/file',
+                expected=[u'keyF', u'section=sectionF', u'file=/path/with/utf 8 and spaces/くらとみ/file'],
+                ),
+            )
+
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        pass
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        pass
+
+    def test_parse_parameters(self):
+        for testcase in self.old_style_params_data:
+            #print(testcase)
+            params = _parse_params(testcase['term'])
+            self.assertEqual(params, testcase['expected'])