diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/ini_subsetting/ruby.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/ini_subsetting/ruby.rb
index 49c0e49..764124d 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/ini_subsetting/ruby.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/ini_subsetting/ruby.rb
@@ -57,14 +57,17 @@ Puppet::Type.type(:ini_subsetting).provide(:ruby) do
     resource[:key_val_separator] || '='
   end
 
+  def quote_char
+    resource[:quote_char]
+  end
+
   private
   def ini_file
     @ini_file ||= Puppet::Util::IniFile.new(file_path, separator)
   end
 
-  private
   def setting_value
-    @setting_value ||= Puppet::Util::SettingValue.new(ini_file.get_value(section, setting), subsetting_separator)
+    @setting_value ||= Puppet::Util::SettingValue.new(ini_file.get_value(section, setting), subsetting_separator, quote_char)
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb b/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb
index dd146c2..ff7232b 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/ini_subsetting.rb
@@ -48,6 +48,18 @@ Puppet::Type.newtype(:ini_subsetting) do
     end
   end
 
+  newparam(:quote_char) do
+    desc 'The character used to quote the entire value of the setting. ' +
+        %q{Vaild vaules are '', '"' and "'". Defaults to ''.}
+    defaultto('')
+
+    validate do |value|
+      unless value =~ /^["']?$/
+        raise Puppet::Error, %q{:quote_char valid values are '', '"' and "'"}
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   newproperty(:value) do
     desc 'The value of the subsetting to be defined.'
   end
diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/setting_value.rb b/lib/puppet/util/setting_value.rb
index 42cd28e..d44330a 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/util/setting_value.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/setting_value.rb
@@ -2,19 +2,21 @@ module Puppet
 module Util
 
   class SettingValue
-  
-    def initialize(setting_value, subsetting_separator = ' ')
+
+    def initialize(setting_value, subsetting_separator = ' ', default_quote_char = nil)
       @setting_value = setting_value
       @subsetting_separator = subsetting_separator
 
-      @quote_char = ""
+      default_quote_char ||= ''
 
       if @setting_value
         unquoted, @quote_char = unquote_setting_value(setting_value)
         @subsetting_items = unquoted.scan(Regexp.new("(?:(?:[^\\#{@subsetting_separator}]|\\.)+)"))  # an item can contain escaped separator
         @subsetting_items.map! { |item| item.strip }
+        @quote_char = default_quote_char if @quote_char.empty?
       else
-      	@subsetting_items = []        
+        @subsetting_items = []
+        @quote_char = default_quote_char
       end     
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/acceptance/ini_subsetting_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/ini_subsetting_spec.rb
index 30517c3..e616853 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/ini_subsetting_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/ini_subsetting_spec.rb
@@ -145,4 +145,47 @@ describe 'ini_subsetting resource' do
       end
     end
   end
+
+  describe 'quote_char' do
+    {
+      ['-Xmx']         => 'args=""',
+      ['-Xmx', '256m'] => 'args=-Xmx256m',
+      ['-Xmx', '512m'] => 'args="-Xmx512m"',
+      ['-Xms', '256m'] => 'args="-Xmx256m -Xms256m"',
+    }.each do |parameter, content|
+      context %Q{with '#{parameter.first}' #{parameter.length > 1 ? '=> \'' << parameter[1] << '\'' : 'absent'} makes '#{content}'} do
+        path = File.join(tmpdir, 'ini_subsetting.ini')
+
+        before :all do
+          shell(%Q{echo '[java]\nargs=-Xmx256m' > #{path}})
+        end
+        after :all do
+          shell("cat #{path}", :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1,2])
+          shell("rm #{path}", :acceptable_exit_codes => [0,1,2])
+        end
+
+        pp = <<-EOS
+        ini_subsetting { '#{parameter.first}':
+          ensure     => #{parameter.length > 1 ? 'present' : 'absent'},
+          path       => '#{path}',
+          section    => 'java',
+          setting    => 'args',
+          quote_char => '"',
+          subsetting => '#{parameter.first}',
+          value      => '#{parameter.length > 1 ? parameter[1] : ''}'
+        }
+        EOS
+
+        it 'applies the manifest twice with no stderr' do
+          expect(apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true).stderr).to eq("")
+          expect(apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes  => true).stderr).to eq("")
+        end
+
+        describe file("#{tmpdir}/ini_subsetting.ini") do
+          it { should be_file }
+          it { should contain(content) }
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/util/setting_value_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/util/setting_value_spec.rb
index 6148396..8514724 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/util/setting_value_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/util/setting_value_spec.rb
@@ -66,4 +66,38 @@ describe Puppet::Util::SettingValue do
       @setting_value.get_subsetting_value("-Xmx").should == nil
     end
   end
+
+  describe "quote_char parameter" do
+    QUOTE_CHAR = '"'
+    INIT_VALUE_UNQUOTED = '-Xmx192m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:HeapDumpPath=/var/log/pe-puppetdb/puppetdb-oom.hprof'
+
+    it "should get quoted empty string if original value was empty" do
+      setting_value = Puppet::Util::SettingValue.new(nil, ' ', QUOTE_CHAR)
+      setting_value.get_value.should == QUOTE_CHAR * 2
+    end
+   
+    it "should quote the setting when adding a value" do
+      setting_value = Puppet::Util::SettingValue.new(INIT_VALUE_UNQUOTED, ' ', QUOTE_CHAR)
+      setting_value.add_subsetting("-Xms", "256m")
+
+      setting_value.get_subsetting_value("-Xms").should == "256m"
+      setting_value.get_value.should == QUOTE_CHAR + INIT_VALUE_UNQUOTED + ' -Xms256m' + QUOTE_CHAR
+    end
+  
+    it "should quote the setting when changing an existing value" do
+      setting_value = Puppet::Util::SettingValue.new(INIT_VALUE_UNQUOTED, ' ', QUOTE_CHAR)
+      setting_value.add_subsetting("-Xmx", "512m")
+
+      setting_value.get_subsetting_value("-Xmx").should == "512m"
+      setting_value.get_value.should =~ /^#{Regexp.quote(QUOTE_CHAR)}.*#{Regexp.quote(QUOTE_CHAR)}$/
+    end
+  
+    it "should quote the setting when removing an existing value" do
+      setting_value = Puppet::Util::SettingValue.new(INIT_VALUE_UNQUOTED, ' ', QUOTE_CHAR)
+      setting_value.remove_subsetting("-Xmx")
+
+      setting_value.get_subsetting_value("-Xmx").should == nil
+      setting_value.get_value.should =~ /^#{Regexp.quote(QUOTE_CHAR)}.*#{Regexp.quote(QUOTE_CHAR)}$/
+    end
+  end
 end