diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e57e718bd..4fdadcbc6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -241,3 +241,5 @@ screenshot
 src/dashboard/dist
 src/dashboard/functions
 src/dashboard/lambda/mock/index.js
+.config
+.config.old
diff --git a/kconfig-lib/kconfiglib.py b/kconfig-lib/kconfiglib.py
index 99132136b..4bb7eda0a 100644
--- a/kconfig-lib/kconfiglib.py
+++ b/kconfig-lib/kconfiglib.py
@@ -7247,4 +7247,4 @@ def _re_search(regex):
 
 # A valid right-hand side for an assignment to a string symbol in a .config
 # file, including escaped characters. Extracts the contents.
-_conf_string_match = _re_match(r'"((?:[^\\"]|\\.)*)"')
+_conf_string_match = _re_match(r'((?:[^\\"]|\\.)*)')