diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cbe691e2..4b72ebfe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -123,9 +123,9 @@ The parsing engine currently supports the following rules:
 
 - `BASIC=basic` becomes `{BASIC: 'basic'}`
 - empty lines are skipped
-- lines beginning with `#` are treated as comments
 - empty values become empty strings (`EMPTY=` becomes `{EMPTY: ''}`)
 - single and double quoted values are escaped (`SINGLE_QUOTE='quoted'` becomes `{SINGLE_QUOTE: "quoted"}`)
+- leading/trailing whitespace gets trimmed, unless within quotes
 - new lines are expanded if in double quotes (`MULTILINE="new\nline"` becomes
 
 ```
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ The parsing engine currently supports the following rules:
 line'}
 ```
 - inner quotes are maintained (think JSON) (`JSON={"foo": "bar"}` becomes `{JSON:"{\"foo\": \"bar\"}"`)
+- ` #` indicates a comment for the rest of the line unless it's quoted (`HASH='here # there' # a comment` becomes `{HASH: "here # there"}`). lines starting with `#` are entirely skipped.
 
 ## FAQ
 
diff --git a/test/.env b/test/.env
index 21822358..5cdb4fdb 100644
--- a/test/.env
+++ b/test/.env
@@ -22,3 +22,7 @@ WHITESPACE_TRIM=  trim me
 QUOTED_WHITESPACE_NOTRIM_1='  dont trim me   '
 QUOTED_WHITESPACE_NOTRIM_2="  dont trim me   "
 USERNAME="therealnerdybeast@example.tld"
+
+PARSER_QA_1=  'a'b'c'd'e'    # a comment
+PARSER_QA_2="  mismatched\nquotes  ' # should\nnot\nprocess
+PARSER_QA_3="  # yes\n  # yes\n" # no
diff --git a/test/main.js b/test/main.js
index 6f410c40..9ae8d2e5 100644
--- a/test/main.js
+++ b/test/main.js
@@ -193,5 +193,12 @@ describe('dotenv', function () {
       parsed.should.have.property('USERNAME', 'therealnerdybeast@example.tld')
       done()
     })
+
+    it('handles severe combinations of the above', function (done) {
+      parsed.PARSER_QA_1.should.eql("a'b'c'd'e")
+      parsed.PARSER_QA_2.should.eql('"  mismatched\\nquotes  \'')
+      parsed.PARSER_QA_3.should.eql('  # yes\n  # yes\n')
+      done()
+    })
   })
 })