diff --git a/gio/gkeyfilesettingsbackend.c b/gio/gkeyfilesettingsbackend.c
index 398cb053a..d5796b706 100644
--- a/gio/gkeyfilesettingsbackend.c
+++ b/gio/gkeyfilesettingsbackend.c
@@ -225,6 +225,25 @@ get_from_keyfile (GKeyfileSettingsBackend *kfsb,
       if (str)
         {
           return_value = g_variant_parse (type, str, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+          if (return_value == NULL &&
+              g_variant_type_equal (type, G_VARIANT_TYPE_STRING) &&
+              str[0] != '\"')
+            {
+              GString *s = g_string_sized_new (strlen (str) + 2);
+              char *p = str;
+
+              g_string_append_c (s, '\"');
+              while (*p)
+                {
+                  if (*p == '\"')
+                    g_string_append_c (s, '\\');
+                  g_string_append_c (s, *p);
+                  p++;
+                }
+              g_string_append_c (s, '\"');
+              return_value = g_variant_parse (type, s->str, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+              g_string_free (s, TRUE);
+            }
           g_free (str);
         }
 
diff --git a/gio/tests/gsettings.c b/gio/tests/gsettings.c
index 58217e982..fb19e5156 100644
--- a/gio/tests/gsettings.c
+++ b/gio/tests/gsettings.c
@@ -1770,6 +1770,23 @@ test_keyfile (void)
   g_assert_cmpstr (str, ==, "howdy");
   g_free (str);
 
+  /* Now check setting a string without quotes */
+  called = FALSE;
+  g_signal_connect (settings, "changed::greeting", G_CALLBACK (key_changed_cb), &called);
+
+  g_key_file_set_string (keyfile, "tests", "greeting", "he\"l🤗uń");
+  g_free (data);
+  data = g_key_file_to_data (keyfile, &len, NULL);
+  g_file_set_contents ("keyfile/gsettings.store", data, len, &error);
+  g_assert_no_error (error);
+  while (!called)
+    g_main_context_iteration (NULL, FALSE);
+  g_signal_handlers_disconnect_by_func (settings, key_changed_cb, &called);
+
+  str = g_settings_get_string (settings, "greeting");
+  g_assert_cmpstr (str, ==, "he\"l🤗uń");
+  g_free (str);
+
   g_settings_set (settings, "farewell", "s", "cheerio");
   
   called = FALSE;