diff --git a/src/emucore/Props.cxx b/src/emucore/Props.cxx
index 694633688..8bf5c38d9 100644
--- a/src/emucore/Props.cxx
+++ b/src/emucore/Props.cxx
@@ -96,37 +96,27 @@ void Properties::load(istream& in)
 {
   setDefaults();
 
-  string line, key, value;
-  string::size_type one, two, three, four, garbage;
-
   // Loop reading properties
-  while(getline(in, line))
+  string key, value;
+  for(;;)
   {
-    // Strip all tabs from the line
-    while((garbage = line.find("\t")) != string::npos)
-      line.erase(garbage, 1);
+    // Get the key associated with this property
+    key = readQuotedString(in);
 
-    // Ignore commented and empty lines
-    if((line.length() == 0) || (line[0] == ';'))
-      continue;
+    // Make sure the stream is still okay
+    if(!in)
+      return;
 
-    // End of this record
-    if(line == "\"\"") 
+    // A null key signifies the end of the property list
+    if(key == "")
       break;
 
-    one = line.find("\"", 0);
-    two = line.find("\"", one + 1);
-    three = line.find("\"", two + 1);
-    four = line.find("\"", three + 1);
+    // Get the value associated with this property
+    value = readQuotedString(in);
 
-    // Invalid line if it doesn't contain 4 quotes
-    if((one == string::npos) || (two == string::npos) ||
-       (three == string::npos) || (four == string::npos))
-      break;
-
-    // Otherwise get the key and value
-    key = line.substr(one + 1, two - one - 1);
-    value = line.substr(three + 1, four - three - 1);
+    // Make sure the stream is still okay
+    if(!in)
+      return;
 
     // Set the property 
     PropertyType type = getPropertyType(key);
@@ -170,9 +160,7 @@ string Properties::readQuotedString(istream& in)
   while(in.get(c))
   {
     if(c == '"')
-    {
       break;
-    }
   }
 
   // Read characters until we see the close quote
@@ -180,21 +168,13 @@ string Properties::readQuotedString(istream& in)
   while(in.get(c))
   {
     if((c == '\\') && (in.peek() == '"'))
-    {
       in.get(c);
-    }
     else if((c == '\\') && (in.peek() == '\\'))
-    {
       in.get(c);
-    }
     else if(c == '"')
-    {
       break;
-    }
     else if(c == '\r')
-    {
       continue;
-    }
 
     s += c;
   }
@@ -219,9 +199,7 @@ void Properties::writeQuotedString(ostream& out, const string& s)
       out.put('"');
     }
     else
-    {
       out.put(s[i]);
-    }
   }
   out.put('"');
 }
diff --git a/src/gui/EditableWidget.cxx b/src/gui/EditableWidget.cxx
index 78925855b..e5596c75e 100644
--- a/src/gui/EditableWidget.cxx
+++ b/src/gui/EditableWidget.cxx
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ void EditableWidget::setEditable(bool editable)
 // - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 bool EditableWidget::tryInsertChar(char c, int pos)
 {
-  if (isprint(c) && c != '\"' && c != '\\')
+  if(isprint(c) && c != '\"')
   {
     _editString.insert(pos, 1, c);
     return true;