diff --git a/misc.go b/misc.go
index 4aa8761..0f18f7a 100644
--- a/misc.go
+++ b/misc.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -136,23 +135,36 @@ func splitWord(s string) (word, rest string) {
 	return
 }
 
-var reComment = regexp.MustCompile(`#.*$`)
-var reTrailingSpace = regexp.MustCompile(`\s+$`)
-
+// This function reads whitespace separated string pairs at each line. Single
+// or double quotes can be used to escape whitespaces. Hash characters can be
+// used to add a comment until the end of line. Indentation and trailing space
+// is trimmed. Empty lines are skipped.
 func readPairs(r io.Reader) ([][]string, error) {
 	var pairs [][]string
 	s := bufio.NewScanner(r)
 	for s.Scan() {
 		line := s.Text()
 
-		line = reComment.ReplaceAllString(line, "")
-		line = reTrailingSpace.ReplaceAllString(line, "")
+		squote, dquote := false, false
+		for i := 0; i < len(line); i++ {
+			if line[i] == '\'' && !dquote {
+				squote = !squote
+			} else if line[i] == '"' && !squote {
+				dquote = !dquote
+			}
+			if !squote && !dquote && line[i] == '#' {
+				line = line[:i]
+				break
+			}
+		}
+
+		line = strings.TrimSpace(line)
 
 		if line == "" {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		squote, dquote := false, false
+		squote, dquote = false, false
 		pair := strings.FieldsFunc(line, func(r rune) bool {
 			if r == '\'' && !dquote {
 				squote = !squote
@@ -163,12 +175,11 @@ func readPairs(r io.Reader) ([][]string, error) {
 		})
 
 		if len(pair) != 2 {
-			return nil, errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("expected pair but found: %s", s.Text()))
-			continue
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected pair but found: %s", s.Text())
 		}
 
 		for i := 0; i < len(pair); i++ {
-			squote, dquote := false, false
+			squote, dquote = false, false
 			buf := make([]rune, 0, len(pair[i]))
 			for _, r := range pair[i] {
 				if r == '\'' && !dquote {
diff --git a/misc_test.go b/misc_test.go
index 2541e04..6962b3b 100644
--- a/misc_test.go
+++ b/misc_test.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -165,6 +166,28 @@ func TestSplitWord(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestReadPairs(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		s   string
+		exp [][]string
+	}{
+		{"foo bar", [][]string{[]string{"foo", "bar"}}},
+		{"foo bar ", [][]string{[]string{"foo", "bar"}}},
+		{" foo bar", [][]string{[]string{"foo", "bar"}}},
+		{" foo bar ", [][]string{[]string{"foo", "bar"}}},
+		{"foo bar#baz", [][]string{[]string{"foo", "bar"}}},
+		{"foo bar #baz", [][]string{[]string{"foo", "bar"}}},
+		{`'foo#baz' bar`, [][]string{[]string{"foo#baz", "bar"}}},
+		{`"foo#baz" bar`, [][]string{[]string{"foo#baz", "bar"}}},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		if got, _ := readPairs(strings.NewReader(test.s)); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, test.exp) {
+			t.Errorf("at input '%v' expected '%v' but got '%v'", test.s, test.exp, got)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestHumanize(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		i   int64