diff --git a/Puppetfile b/Puppetfile
index ec65fc465..1699e8537 100644
--- a/Puppetfile
+++ b/Puppetfile
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ mod 'horizon',
   :git => 'https://github.com/stackforge/puppet-horizon.git'
 
 mod 'inifile',
-  :commit => '6b399c2bc6b34fd01c704dd5836c61935cf9e4f1',
+  :commit => 'be5fc47f00466a2e6293145b3a0d4fcb586bcf15',
   :git => 'https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppetlabs-inifile.git'
 
 mod 'ipa',
diff --git a/inifile/.gitignore b/inifile/.gitignore
index b5b7a00d6..b5db85e05 100644
--- a/inifile/.gitignore
+++ b/inifile/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,5 @@ spec/fixtures/
 .vagrant/
 .bundle/
 coverage/
+.idea/
+*.iml
diff --git a/inifile/Gemfile b/inifile/Gemfile
index 12fd363ea..6bfe6bf45 100644
--- a/inifile/Gemfile
+++ b/inifile/Gemfile
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 source ENV['GEM_SOURCE'] || "https://rubygems.org"
 
+def location_for(place, fake_version = nil)
+  if place =~ /^(git:[^#]*)#(.*)/
+    [fake_version, { :git => $1, :branch => $2, :require => false }].compact
+  elsif place =~ /^file:\/\/(.*)/
+    ['>= 0', { :path => File.expand_path($1), :require => false }]
+  else
+    [place, { :require => false }]
+  end
+end
+
 group :development, :unit_tests do
   gem 'rake',                    :require => false
   gem 'rspec-puppet',            :require => false
@@ -10,19 +20,24 @@ group :development, :unit_tests do
   gem 'json',                    :require => false
 end
 
+beaker_rspec_version = ENV['BEAKER_RSPEC_VERSION']
 group :system_tests do
-  gem 'beaker-rspec',  :require => false
+  if beaker_rspec_version
+    gem 'beaker-rspec', *location_for(beaker_rspec_version)
+  else  
+    gem 'beaker-rspec',  :require => false
+  end
   gem 'serverspec',    :require => false
 end
 
 if facterversion = ENV['FACTER_GEM_VERSION']
-  gem 'facter', facterversion, :require => false
+  gem 'facter', *location_for(facterversion)
 else
   gem 'facter', :require => false
 end
 
 if puppetversion = ENV['PUPPET_GEM_VERSION']
-  gem 'puppet', puppetversion, :require => false
+  gem 'puppet', *location_for(puppetversion)
 else
   gem 'puppet', :require => false
 end
diff --git a/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_setting.rb b/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_setting.rb
index 450623143..662c74c11 100644
--- a/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_setting.rb
+++ b/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_setting.rb
@@ -28,15 +28,9 @@
 
   newparam(:key_val_separator) do
     desc 'The separator string to use between each setting name and value. ' +
-        'Defaults to " = ", but you could use this to override e.g. whether ' +
-        'or not the separator should include whitespace.'
+        'Defaults to " = ", but you could use this to override e.g. ": ", or' +
+        'whether or not the separator should include whitespace.'
     defaultto(" = ")
-
-    validate do |value|
-      unless value.scan('=').size == 1
-        raise Puppet::Error, ":key_val_separator must contain exactly one = character."
-      end
-    end
   end
 
   newproperty(:value) do
diff --git a/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb b/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb
index 847e31797..0db073850 100644
--- a/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb
+++ b/inifile/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb
@@ -37,15 +37,9 @@
 
   newparam(:key_val_separator) do
     desc 'The separator string to use between each setting name and value. ' +
-        'Defaults to " = ", but you could use this to override e.g. whether ' +
-        'or not the separator should include whitespace.'
+        'Defaults to " = ", but you could use this to override e.g. ": ", or' +
+        'whether or not the separator should include whitespace.'
     defaultto(" = ")
-
-    validate do |value|
-      unless value.scan('=').size == 1
-        raise Puppet::Error, ":key_val_separator must contain exactly one = character."
-      end
-    end
   end
 
   newparam(:quote_char) do
diff --git a/inifile/lib/puppet/util/ini_file.rb b/inifile/lib/puppet/util/ini_file.rb
index a5cefa763..c1884ce55 100644
--- a/inifile/lib/puppet/util/ini_file.rb
+++ b/inifile/lib/puppet/util/ini_file.rb
@@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ module Puppet
 module Util
   class IniFile
 
-    @@SECTION_REGEX = /^\s*\[([^\]]*)\]\s*$/
-    @@SETTING_REGEX = /^(\s*)([^\s=]*)(\s*=\s*)(.*)\s*$/
-    @@COMMENTED_SETTING_REGEX = /^(\s*)[#;]+(\s*)([^\s=]*)(\s*=[ \t]*)(.*)\s*$/
-
     def initialize(path, key_val_separator = ' = ')
+
+      k_v_s = key_val_separator.strip
+
+      @@SECTION_REGEX = /^\s*\[([^\]]*)\]\s*$/
+      @@SETTING_REGEX = /^(\s*)([^\s#{k_v_s}]*)(\s*#{k_v_s}\s*)(.*)\s*$/
+      @@COMMENTED_SETTING_REGEX = /^(\s*)[#;]+(\s*)([^\s#{k_v_s}]*)(\s*#{k_v_s}[ \t]*)(.*)\s*$/
+
+
       @path = path
       @key_val_separator = key_val_separator
       @section_names = []
diff --git a/inifile/spec/acceptance/ini_setting_spec.rb b/inifile/spec/acceptance/ini_setting_spec.rb
index 9aad0cc39..4e5898506 100644
--- a/inifile/spec/acceptance/ini_setting_spec.rb
+++ b/inifile/spec/acceptance/ini_setting_spec.rb
@@ -72,13 +72,7 @@
         apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
       end
 
-      describe file("#{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini") do
-        it { should be_file }
-        #XXX Solaris 10 doesn't support multi-line grep
-        it("should contain four = five\n[one]\ntwo = three", :unless => fact('osfamily') == 'Solaris') {
-          should contain("four = five\n[one]\ntwo = three")
-        }
-      end
+      it_behaves_like 'has_content', "#{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini", pp, "four = five\n[one]\ntwo = three"
     end
 
     context '=> absent for key/value' do
@@ -113,40 +107,6 @@
       end
     end
 
-    context '=> absent for section', :pending => "cannot ensure absent on a section"  do
-      before :all do
-        if fact('osfamily') == 'Darwin'
-          shell("echo \"four = five\n[one]\ntwo = three\" > #{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini")
-        else
-          shell("echo -e \"four = five\n[one]\ntwo = three\" > #{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini")
-        end
-      end
-      after :all do
-        shell("cat #{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini", :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1,2])
-        shell("rm #{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini", :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1,2])
-      end
-
-      pp = <<-EOS
-      ini_setting { 'ensure => absent for section':
-        ensure  => absent,
-        path    => "#{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini",
-        section => 'one',
-      }
-      EOS
-
-      it 'applies the manifest twice' do
-        apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
-        apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes  => true)
-      end
-
-      describe file("#{tmpdir}/ini_setting.ini") do
-        it { should be_file }
-        it { should contain('four = five') }
-        it { should_not contain('[one]') }
-        it { should_not contain('two = three') }
-      end
-    end
-
     context '=> absent for global' do
       before :all do
         if fact('osfamily') == 'Darwin'
@@ -282,27 +242,5 @@
         it_behaves_like 'has_content', "#{tmpdir}/key_val_separator.ini", pp, content
       end
     end
-
-    {
-      "key_val_separator => '',"      => /must contain exactly one/,
-      "key_val_separator => ',',"     => /must contain exactly one/,
-      "key_val_separator => '   ',"   => /must contain exactly one/,
-      "key_val_separator => ' ==  '," => /must contain exactly one/,
-    }.each do |parameter, error|
-      context "with \"#{parameter}\" raises \"#{error}\"" do
-        pp = <<-EOS
-        ini_setting { "with #{parameter} raises #{error}":
-          ensure  => present,
-          section => 'one',
-          setting => 'two',
-          value   => 'three',
-          path    => "#{tmpdir}/key_val_separator.ini",
-          #{parameter}
-        }
-        EOS
-
-        it_behaves_like 'has_error', "#{tmpdir}/key_val_separator.ini", pp, error
-      end
-    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/inifile/spec/unit/puppet/provider/ini_setting/ruby_spec.rb b/inifile/spec/unit/puppet/provider/ini_setting/ruby_spec.rb
index 1ab84b974..0810bc284 100644
--- a/inifile/spec/unit/puppet/provider/ini_setting/ruby_spec.rb
+++ b/inifile/spec/unit/puppet/provider/ini_setting/ruby_spec.rb
@@ -495,39 +495,46 @@ def self.file_path
       EOS
     }
 
-    it "should fail if the separator doesn't include an equals sign" do
-      expect {
-        Puppet::Type::Ini_setting.new(common_params.merge(
-                                         :section           => 'section2',
-                                         :setting           => 'foo',
-                                         :value             => 'yippee',
-                                         :key_val_separator => '+'))
-      }.to raise_error Puppet::Error, /must contain exactly one/
+    it "should modify an existing setting" do
+      resource = Puppet::Type::Ini_setting.new(common_params.merge(
+                                                   :section           => 'section2',
+                                                   :setting           => 'foo',
+                                                   :value             => 'yippee',
+                                                   :key_val_separator => '='))
+      provider = described_class.new(resource)
+      provider.exists?.should be true
+      provider.value.should == 'bar'
+      provider.value=('yippee')
+      validate_file(<<-EOS
+[section2]
+foo=yippee
+      EOS
+      )
     end
 
-    it "should fail if the separator includes more than one equals sign" do
-      expect {
-        Puppet::Type::Ini_setting.new(common_params.merge(
-                                         :section           => 'section2',
-                                         :setting           => 'foo',
-                                         :value             => 'yippee',
-                                         :key_val_separator => ' = foo = '))
-      }.to raise_error Puppet::Error, /must contain exactly one/
-    end
+  end
+
+  context "when overriding the separator to something other than =" do
+    let(:orig_content) {
+      <<-EOS
+[section2]
+foo: bar
+      EOS
+    }
 
     it "should modify an existing setting" do
       resource = Puppet::Type::Ini_setting.new(common_params.merge(
                                                    :section           => 'section2',
                                                    :setting           => 'foo',
                                                    :value             => 'yippee',
-                                                   :key_val_separator => '='))
+                                                   :key_val_separator => ': '))
       provider = described_class.new(resource)
       provider.exists?.should be true
       provider.value.should == 'bar'
       provider.value=('yippee')
       validate_file(<<-EOS
 [section2]
-foo=yippee
+foo: yippee
       EOS
       )
     end
@@ -537,14 +544,14 @@ def self.file_path
                                                    :section           => 'section2',
                                                    :setting           => 'bar',
                                                    :value             => 'baz',
-                                                   :key_val_separator => '='))
+                                                   :key_val_separator => ': '))
       provider = described_class.new(resource)
       provider.exists?.should be false
       provider.create
       validate_file(<<-EOS
 [section2]
-foo=bar
-bar=baz
+foo: bar
+bar: baz
       EOS
       )
     end