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configparser no longer accept space as a delimiter #156353

Description

@lennardk

Bug report

Bug description:

Between python 3.14.4 and 3.14.5, python stopped recognising a space as a delimiter.

import configparser
cp=configparser.ConfigParser(delimiters=(' ', '='))
cp.read_string('[all]\nfoo bar=baz')
cp.options('all')

Test using docker on 3.14.4:

$ docker run -it --rm python:3.14.4
Python 3.14.4 (main, May  8 2026, 22:38:20) [GCC 14.2.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import configparser; cp=configparser.ConfigParser(delimiters=(' ', '=')); cp.read_string('[all]\nfoo bar=baz'); cp.options('all')
['foo']

Same test on 3.14.5:

$ docker run -it --rm python:3.14.5
Python 3.14.5 (main, May 20 2026, 02:52:14) [GCC 14.2.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import configparser; cp=configparser.ConfigParser(delimiters=(' ', '=')); cp.read_string('[all]\nfoo bar=baz'); cp.options('all')
['foo bar']

Between 3.13.13 and 3.13.14, the same issue appears.

I dug into Lib/configparser.py and its history a bit and I suspect this might be related to #146399, although I did not dig deep enough to be sure this test is valid and has the proper input:

Python 3.14.7 (main, Aug  5 2026, 10:29:49) [Clang 21.0.0 (clang-2100.1.1.101)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> delimiters = (' ', '=')
>>> d = "|".join(re.escape(d) for d in delimiters)
>>> _OPT_NV_TMPL_PRE = r"""
...         (?P<option>.*?)
...         \s*(?:                             # any number of space/tab,
...         (?P<vi>{delim})\s*                 # optionally followed by
...                                            # any of allowed
...                                            # delimiters, followed by any
...                                            # space/tab
...         (?P<value>.*))?$                   # everything up to eol
...         """
>>> _OPT_NV_TMPL_POST = r"""
...         (?P<option>                        # very permissive!
...             (?:(?!{delim})\S)*             # non-delimiter non-whitespace
...             (?:\s+(?:(?!{delim})\S)+)*)    # optionally more words
...         \s*(?:                             # any number of space/tab,
...         (?P<vi>{delim})\s*                 # optionally followed by
...                                            # any of the allowed
...                                            # delimiters, followed by any
...                                            # space/tab
...         (?P<value>.*))?$                   # everything up to eol
...         """
>>> _optcre_pre = re.compile(_OPT_NV_TMPL_PRE.format(delim=d), re.VERBOSE)
>>> _optcre_post = re.compile(_OPT_NV_TMPL_POST.format(delim=d), re.VERBOSE)
>>> _optcre_pre.search('foo bar').groups()
('foo', ' ', 'bar')
>>> _optcre_post.search('foo bar').groups()
('foo bar', None, None)

CPython versions tested on:

3.14

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

Linked PRs

Activity

  1. added
    stdlibStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directory
    on Aug 25, 2026
  2. added a commit that references this issue on Aug 25, 2026
  3. added a commit that references this issue on Aug 29, 2026
  4. added
    3.11only security fixes
    3.12only security fixes
    3.13only security fixes
    3.14bugs and security fixes
    3.15bugs and security fixes
    on Aug 29, 2026
  5. added a commit that references this issue on Aug 29, 2026
  6. added 2 commits that reference this issue on Aug 31, 2026
  7. removed
    3.13only security fixes
    3.14bugs and security fixes
    3.15bugs and security fixes
    on Aug 31, 2026
  8. added a commit that references this issue on Sep 8, 2026
  9. added a commit that references this issue on Sep 12, 2026
  10. added 2 commits that reference this issue on Oct 1, 2026
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    3.10 (EOL)end of life3.11only security fixesrelease-blockerstdlibStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directorytype-bugAn unexpected behavior, bug, or error

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