diff --git a/plugins/modules/sysrc.py b/plugins/modules/sysrc.py
index cff987449c..328ab1206a 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/sysrc.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/sysrc.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ changed:
 """
 
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
-from ansible.module_utils.six.moves import configparser
+from shlex import split
 import re
 
 
@@ -131,14 +131,12 @@ class Sysrc(object):
         Use this dictionary to preform the tests.
         """
         (rc, out, err) = self.run_sysrc('-e', '-a')
-        parser = configparser.ConfigParser()
-        parser.read_string('[top]\n' + out)  # Add faked top section
-        conf = {k: parser['top'][k] for k in parser['top']}
+        conf = dict((part.split('=', 1) for part in split(out, comments=True)))
 
         if self.value is None:
             return self.name in conf
         else:
-            return self.name in conf and conf[self.name] == '"%s"' % self.value
+            return self.name in conf and conf[self.name] == '%s' % self.value
 
     def contains(self):
         (rc, out, err) = self.run_sysrc('-n', self.name)