diff --git a/vlib/toml/parser/parser.v b/vlib/toml/parser/parser.v
index d1f786b4a8..e8726421fe 100644
--- a/vlib/toml/parser/parser.v
+++ b/vlib/toml/parser/parser.v
@@ -425,12 +425,7 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) root_table() ? {
 				peek_tok, _ := p.peek_over(1, parser.keys_and_space_formatting) ?
 
 				if peek_tok.kind == .period {
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					dotted_key := p.dotted_key() ?
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					p.check(.assign) ?
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					val := p.value() ?
+					dotted_key, val := p.dotted_key_value() ?
 
 					sub_table, key := p.sub_table_key(dotted_key)
 
@@ -605,17 +600,11 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) inline_table(mut tbl map[string]ast.Value) ? {
 				return
 			}
 			.bare, .quoted, .boolean, .number, .underscore {
-				mut peek_tok := p.peek_tok
 				// Peek forward as far as we can skipping over space formatting tokens.
-				peek_tok, _ = p.peek_over(1, parser.space_formatting) ?
+				peek_tok, _ := p.peek_over(1, parser.space_formatting) ?
 
 				if peek_tok.kind == .period {
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					dotted_key := p.dotted_key() ?
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					p.check(.assign) ?
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					val := p.value() ?
+					dotted_key, val := p.dotted_key_value() ?
 
 					sub_table, key := p.sub_table_key(dotted_key)
 
@@ -654,8 +643,12 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) array_of_tables(mut table map[string]ast.Value) ? {
 	// NOTE this is starting to get ugly. TOML isn't simple at this point
 	p.check(.lsbr) ? // '[' bracket
 
+	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
+	peek_tok, _ := p.peek_over(1, parser.space_formatting) ?
+	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
+
 	// [[key.key]] horror
-	if p.peek_tok.kind == .period {
+	if peek_tok.kind == .period {
 		p.double_array_of_tables(mut table) ?
 		return
 	}
@@ -703,16 +696,16 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) array_of_tables_contents() ?[]ast.Value {
 
 	for p.tok.kind != .eof {
 		p.next() ?
-		util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsing token "$p.tok.kind"')
 		p.ignore_while(parser.all_formatting)
+		util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsing token "$p.tok.kind"')
 
 		match p.tok.kind {
 			.bare, .quoted, .boolean, .number, .underscore {
-				if p.peek_tok.kind == .period {
-					dotted_key := p.dotted_key() ?
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					p.check(.assign) ?
-					val := p.value() ?
+				// Peek forward as far as we can skipping over space formatting tokens.
+				peek_tok, _ := p.peek_over(1, parser.space_formatting) ?
+
+				if peek_tok.kind == .period {
+					dotted_key, val := p.dotted_key_value() ?
 
 					sub_table, key := p.sub_table_key(dotted_key)
 
@@ -741,19 +734,9 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) array_of_tables_contents() ?[]ast.Value {
 pub fn (mut p Parser) double_array_of_tables(mut table map[string]ast.Value) ? {
 	util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsing array of tables of arrays "$p.tok.kind" "$p.tok.lit"')
 
-	mut dotted_key := DottedKey([]string{})
+	dotted_key := p.dotted_key() ?
+	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
 
-	key := p.key() ?
-	dotted_key << key.str()
-	for p.peek_tok.kind == .period {
-		p.next() ? // .
-		p.check(.period) ?
-		next_key := p.key() ?
-		dotted_key << next_key.text
-	}
-	util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsed dotted key `$dotted_key` now at "$p.tok.kind" "$p.tok.lit"')
-
-	p.next() ?
 	p.check(.rsbr) ?
 	p.expect(.rsbr) ?
 
@@ -850,11 +833,11 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) double_array_of_tables_contents(target_key DottedKey) ?[]a
 
 		match p.tok.kind {
 			.bare, .quoted, .boolean, .number, .underscore {
-				if p.peek_tok.kind == .period {
-					mut dotted_key := p.dotted_key() ?
-					p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
-					p.check(.assign) ?
-					val := p.value() ?
+				// Peek forward as far as we can skipping over space formatting tokens.
+				peek_tok, _ = p.peek_over(1, parser.space_formatting) ?
+
+				if peek_tok.kind == .period {
+					mut dotted_key, val := p.dotted_key_value() ?
 
 					if implicit_allocation_key.len > 0 {
 						dotted_key.insert(0, implicit_allocation_key)
@@ -1096,10 +1079,24 @@ pub fn (mut p Parser) key_value() ?(ast.Key, ast.Value) {
 	p.check(.assign) ? // Assignment operator
 	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
 	value := p.value() ?
-	util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsed key value pair. "$key" = $value')
+	util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsed key value pair. `$key = $value`')
 	return key, value
 }
 
+// dotted_key_value parse and returns a pair `DottedKey` and `ast.Value` type.
+// see also `key()` and `value()`
+pub fn (mut p Parser) dotted_key_value() ?(DottedKey, ast.Value) {
+	util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsing dotted key value pair...')
+	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
+	dotted_key := p.dotted_key() ?
+	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
+	p.check(.assign) ?
+	p.ignore_while(parser.space_formatting)
+	value := p.value() ?
+	util.printdbg(@MOD + '.' + @STRUCT + '.' + @FN, 'parsed dotted key value pair `$dotted_key = $value`...')
+	return dotted_key, value
+}
+
 // value parse and returns an `ast.Value` type.
 // values are the token(s) appearing after an assignment operator (=).
 pub fn (mut p Parser) value() ?ast.Value {
diff --git a/vlib/toml/tests/spaced_keys_test.v b/vlib/toml/tests/spaced_keys_test.v
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f76efdf3d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vlib/toml/tests/spaced_keys_test.v
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import toml
+
+fn test_spaced_keys() {
+	str_value := 'V rocks!'
+
+	toml_txt := '
+	  "o"   .   	pq  .  r     =    "Yuk"
+
+[[ a . "b.c" ]]
+	d . e = "V rocks!"
+
+[ tube . test . "test.test" ]
+	 h  .	"i.j."  .   "k"  =   	 "Cryptic"
+'
+	toml_doc := toml.parse(toml_txt) or { panic(err) }
+	mut value := toml_doc.value('a."b.c"[0].d.e')
+	assert value == toml.Any(str_value)
+	assert value as string == str_value
+	assert value.string() == str_value
+
+	value = toml_doc.value('"o".pq.r')
+	assert value.string() == 'Yuk'
+
+	value = toml_doc.value('tube.test."test.test".h."i.j."."k"')
+	assert value.string() == 'Cryptic'
+}
diff --git a/vlib/toml/toml.v b/vlib/toml/toml.v
index 5cc098ee87..b72014e1fb 100644
--- a/vlib/toml/toml.v
+++ b/vlib/toml/toml.v
@@ -134,7 +134,10 @@ pub fn parse_dotted_key(key string) ?[]string {
 		buf += ch.ascii_str()
 		if !in_string && ch == `.` {
 			if buf != '' && buf != ' ' {
-				out << buf[..buf.len - 1]
+				buf = buf[..buf.len - 1]
+				if buf != '' && buf != ' ' {
+					out << buf
+				}
 			}
 			buf = ''
 			continue