Index: Doc/library/configparser.rst
===================================================================
--- Doc/library/configparser.rst	(revision 60075)
+++ Doc/library/configparser.rst	(working copy)
@@ -29,12 +29,12 @@
 
 The configuration file consists of sections, led by a ``[section]`` header and
 followed by ``name: value`` entries, with continuations in the style of
-:rfc:`822`; ``name=value`` is also accepted.  Note that leading whitespace is
-removed from values. The optional values can contain format strings which refer
-to other values in the same section, or values in a special ``DEFAULT`` section.
-Additional defaults can be provided on initialization and retrieval.  Lines
-beginning with ``'#'`` or ``';'`` are ignored and may be used to provide
-comments.
+:rfc:`822`; ``name=value`` is also accepted.  Note that trailing and leading
+whitespaces are removed from values, unless wrapped inside double quotes. The
+optional values can contain format strings which refer to other values in the
+same section, or values in a special ``DEFAULT`` section. Additional defaults
+can be provided on initialization and retrieval.  Lines beginning with ``'#'``
+or ``';'`` are ignored and may be used to provide comments.
 
 For example::
 
Index: Lib/ConfigParser.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/ConfigParser.py	(revision 60075)
+++ Lib/ConfigParser.py	(working copy)
@@ -488,9 +488,9 @@
                             if pos != -1 and optval[pos-1].isspace():
                                 optval = optval[:pos]
                         optval = optval.strip()
-                        # allow empty values
-                        if optval == '""':
-                            optval = ''
+                        # allow double quotes to prevent trailing and leading
+                        # spaces from being stripped
+                        optval = optval.strip('"')
                         optname = self.optionxform(optname.rstrip())
                         cursect[optname] = optval
                     else:
Index: Lib/test/test_cfgparser.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_cfgparser.py	(revision 60075)
+++ Lib/test/test_cfgparser.py	(working copy)
@@ -145,6 +145,16 @@
             cf.get("DEFAULT", "Foo"), "Bar",
             "could not locate option, expecting case-insensitive defaults")
 
+    def test_double_quotes(self):
+        cf = self.fromstring(
+            "[Spam]\n"
+            "egg=\"\"\n"
+            "bacon= \" with trailing and leading spaces \"\n"
+            )
+        eq = self.assertEqual
+        eq(cf.get('Spam', 'egg'), '')
+        eq(cf.get('Spam', 'bacon'), ' with trailing and leading spaces ')
+
     def test_parse_errors(self):
         self.newconfig()
         self.parse_error(ConfigParser.ParsingError,