diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index cbdc15a..8097b3f 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     <name>WebServiceShell</name>
     <groupId>edu.iris</groupId>
     <artifactId>webserviceshell</artifactId>
-    <version>2.4.8-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.4.9</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <url>http://iris.edu</url>
diff --git a/src/main/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfigurator.java b/src/main/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfigurator.java
index ff1ec1d..bfc472b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfigurator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfigurator.java
@@ -24,10 +24,13 @@
 import edu.iris.wss.provider.IrisProcessMarker;
 import edu.iris.wss.provider.IrisProcessor;
 import edu.iris.wss.provider.IrisSingleton;
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 import java.net.InetAddress;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.UnknownHostException;
@@ -51,11 +54,11 @@
 public class AppConfigurator {
 	public static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(AppConfigurator.class);
 
-	public static final String wssVersion = "2.4.8-SNAPSHOT";
+	public static final String wssVersion = "2.4.9";
 
 	public static final String wssDigestRealmnameSignature = "wss.digest.realmname";
 
-	private static final String DEFAULT_SERVICE_FILE_NAME = "META-INF/service.cfg";
+	protected static final String DEFAULT_SERVICE_FILE_NAME = "META-INF/service.cfg";
 	public static final String SERVICE_CFG_NAME_SUFFIX = "-service.cfg";
     public static final String ENDPOINT_TO_PROPERTIES_DELIMITER = ".";
 
@@ -634,7 +637,8 @@ public static Properties loadPropertiesFile(String configBase,
                 + configFileName);
 
             try {
-                configurationProps.load(new FileInputStream(configFileName));
+                InputStream inStream = new FileInputStream(configFileName);
+                loadWithBackslashFix(configurationProps, inStream);
                 userConfig = true;
             } catch (IOException ex) {
                 logger.warn("***** could not read cfg file: " + configFileName);
@@ -660,7 +664,7 @@ public static Properties loadPropertiesFile(String configBase,
             logger.info("Attempting to load default application"
                 + " configuration from here: " + defaultCfgName);
 
-            configurationProps.load(inStream);
+            loadWithBackslashFix(configurationProps, inStream);
             logger.info("Default application properties loaded, file: "
                 + defaultCfgName);
 
@@ -669,6 +673,36 @@ public static Properties loadPropertiesFile(String configBase,
         return configurationProps;
     }
 
+    public static void loadWithBackslashFix(Properties prop, InputStream is)
+          throws IOException {
+        // before loading check for any character after any backslash
+        // and before the end of line, and remove it
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        InputStreamReader isr = new InputStreamReader(is);
+        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(isr);
+        String readLine = "";
+        while ((readLine = br.readLine()) != null) {
+          int idxback = readLine.indexOf("\\");
+          int idxEOL =  readLine.length() - 1;
+
+          if(idxback > -1) {
+            if (idxEOL > idxback) {
+              // fixit
+              readLine = readLine.substring(0,idxback+1);
+              int fidxback = readLine.indexOf("\\");
+              int fidxEOL =  readLine.length() - 1;
+            }
+          }
+          // put back the EOL since readLine removed it
+          sb.append(readLine).append("\n");
+        }
+
+        ByteArrayInputStream sbis = new ByteArrayInputStream(
+                sb.toString().getBytes("UTF-8"));
+
+        prop.load(sbis);
+    }
+
 	public void loadConfigurationParameters(Properties inputProps)
 			throws Exception {
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfig_loadPropertiesFileTest.java b/src/test/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfig_loadPropertiesFileTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d5baafd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/edu/iris/wss/framework/AppConfig_loadPropertiesFileTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 IRIS DMC supported by the National Science Foundation.
+ *
+ * This file is part of the Web Service Shell (WSS).
+ *
+ * The WSS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * The WSS is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * A copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License is available at
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ ******************************************************************************/
+
+package edu.iris.wss.framework;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.RandomAccessFile;
+import java.nio.channels.FileChannel;
+import java.util.Properties;
+import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author mike
+ */
+public class AppConfig_loadPropertiesFileTest {
+    public static final String THIS_CLASS_NAME = AppConfig_loadPropertiesFileTest.class.getSimpleName();
+    public static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(THIS_CLASS_NAME);
+
+    private static final String MEDIA_PARAM = "myFORMTname";
+
+    private static final String SERVICE_CONTEXT = "/loadproptest";
+    private static final String ENDPOINT_NAME = "process";
+
+    private String okFN, notokFN;
+
+    public AppConfig_loadPropertiesFileTest() {
+    }
+
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void setUpClass() {
+        // define WSS config dir for this test
+        System.setProperty(Util.WSS_OS_CONFIG_DIR,
+            "target"
+              + File.separator + "test-classes"
+              + File.separator + THIS_CLASS_NAME);
+    }
+
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void tearDownClass() {
+    }
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp() throws Exception {
+        String className = "edu.iris.wss.endpoints.DummyNameEndpoint";
+
+        String flaw = "";
+        okFN = FileCreaterHelper.createFileInWssFolder(SERVICE_CONTEXT,
+              "-ok"+AppConfigurator.SERVICE_CFG_NAME_SUFFIX,
+              createServiceCfgStr(ENDPOINT_NAME, className, flaw),
+              false);
+
+        // insert a hard-to-see problem after a backslash in a list
+        flaw = " ";
+        notokFN = FileCreaterHelper.createFileInWssFolder(SERVICE_CONTEXT,
+              "-notok"+AppConfigurator.SERVICE_CFG_NAME_SUFFIX,
+              createServiceCfgStr(ENDPOINT_NAME, className, flaw),
+              false);
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void tearDown() throws Exception {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testload_withFlaw() throws Exception {
+
+        // file read from https://www.mkyong.com/java/java-read-a-text-file-line-by-line/
+        RandomAccessFile okfile = new RandomAccessFile(okFN, "r");
+        FileChannel okchannel = okfile.getChannel();
+        RandomAccessFile notokfile = new RandomAccessFile(notokFN, "r");
+        FileChannel notokchannel = notokfile.getChannel();
+
+        // the files should be different, the not ok file should have
+        // a flaw string after a backslass
+        assertEquals(true, okchannel.size() != notokchannel.size());
+
+        okchannel.close();
+        okfile.close();
+        notokchannel.close();
+        notokfile.close();
+
+        Properties props_ok =
+              AppConfigurator.loadPropertiesFile(SERVICE_CONTEXT.substring(1),
+              this.getClass(), "-ok"+AppConfigurator.SERVICE_CFG_NAME_SUFFIX,
+              AppConfigurator.DEFAULT_SERVICE_FILE_NAME);
+
+        Properties props_notok =
+              AppConfigurator.loadPropertiesFile(SERVICE_CONTEXT.substring(1),
+              this.getClass(), "-notok"+AppConfigurator.SERVICE_CFG_NAME_SUFFIX,
+              AppConfigurator.DEFAULT_SERVICE_FILE_NAME);
+
+        // the properties shoud be the same after the fix is applied when the
+        // properties are loaded
+        assertEquals(true, props_ok.keySet().equals(props_notok.keySet()));
+     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testload_withNoBase() throws Exception {
+        String testDefaultResource = "META-INF/service_withFlaw.cfg";
+
+        InputStream inStream = this.getClass().getClassLoader()
+            .getResourceAsStream(testDefaultResource);
+
+        Properties props_notok = new Properties();
+        props_notok.load(inStream);
+
+        // this loads the default cfg when it can't find the primary
+        Properties props_ok =
+              AppConfigurator.loadPropertiesFile("wrongbase_force_to_default",
+              this.getClass(), "-ok"+AppConfigurator.SERVICE_CFG_NAME_SUFFIX,
+              testDefaultResource);
+
+        // the properties should be different after the fixed load
+        assertEquals(false, props_ok.keySet().equals(props_notok.keySet()));
+     }
+
+    private static String createServiceCfgStr(String endpointName,
+          String endpointClass, String flaw) {
+        String s = String.join("\n",
+              "# ---------------- globals",
+              "",
+              "appName=" + THIS_CLASS_NAME,
+              "version=0.1",
+              "",
+              "corsEnabled=false",
+              "",
+              "# LOG4J or JMS",
+              "loggingMethod=LOG4J",
+              "",
+              "# If present, an instance of the singleton class will be created at application start",
+              "singletonClassName=edu.iris.wss.framework.UnitTestDestroySingleton",
+              "",
+              "# ----------------  endpoints",
+              "",
+              endpointName + ".endpointClassName=" + endpointClass,
+              endpointName + ".usageLog",
+              endpointName + ".postEnabled=true",
+              endpointName + ".logMiniseedExtents = false",
+              endpointName + ".use404For204=false",
+              endpointName + ".formatTypes = \\",
+              "    text: text/plain,\\",
+              "    json: application/json, \\" + flaw,
+              "    miniseed: application/vnd.fdsn.mseed, \\",
+              "    geocsv: text/plain",
+              endpointName + ".mediaParameter = " + MEDIA_PARAM,
+              ""
+        );
+
+        return s;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/resources/META-INF/service_withFlaw.cfg b/src/test/resources/META-INF/service_withFlaw.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b32a1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/META-INF/service_withFlaw.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# ---------------- globals
+
+appName=dummy-service
+version=dummy-version-2.x
+
+# CORS is enabled by default, set to false to disable CORS processing
+##corsEnabled=false
+
+# a URL providing information about the application, documentation on usage, etc.
+##rootServiceDoc=http://service.iris.edu/
+rootServiceDoc=file:///nofolder/nofolder/nodocfile.html
+
+# LOG4J or JMS
+loggingMethod=LOG4J
+
+# the default is 60 seconds - time delay between SIGTERM until SIGKILL on command line processes
+##sigkillDelay=30
+
+# If present, an instance of the singleton class will be created at application start
+##singletonClassName=edu.iris.wss.provider.TestSingleton
+
+# ----------------  endpoints
+
+# may be a user class that extends IrisProcessor 
+# by default, set to s set to edu.iris.wss.endpoints.CmdProcessor
+# can use edu.iris.wss.endpoints.ProxyResource to return content
+dummyEP.endpointClassName=edu.iris.wss.endpoints.CmdProcessor
+
+dummyEP.handlerProgram=/somefolder/somefolder/some_handler.sh
+
+# Timeout in seconds for command line processes
+dummyEP.handlerTimeout=40
+
+# A valid folder with write access for command line processes
+dummyEP.handlerWorkingDirectory=/tmp
+
+# usageLog is true by default, set this to false to disable usage logging
+##dummyEP.usageLog=false
+
+dummyEP.formatTypes = \
+    miniseed: application/vnd.fdsn.mseed, \
+    mseed: application/vnd.fdsn.mseed, \
+    json: application/json, \
+    geocsv: text/csv, \zzzpy
+    text: text/plain,\
+    texttree: text/plain,\
+    xml: application/xml
+
+# false by default, true enables POST processing
+dummyEP.postEnabled=true
+
+# false by default, enables additional miniseed processing and logging
+##dummyEP.logMiniseedExtents=true
+
+# false by default, enable this to return HTTP 404 in lieu of 204, NO CONTENT
+dummyEP.use404For204=true
+
+# required when endpointClassName is set to edu.iris.wss.endpoints.ProxyResource
+##dummyEP.proxyURL=http://geows.ds.iris.edu/geows-uf/v2/intermagnet-2-swagger.json
\ No newline at end of file