diff --git a/conf/strongswan.conf.5.head.in b/conf/strongswan.conf.5.head.in
index c9db45355..9337c19e2 100644
--- a/conf/strongswan.conf.5.head.in
+++ b/conf/strongswan.conf.5.head.in
@@ -40,12 +40,6 @@ Section names and keys may contain any printable character except:
 	. , : { } = " # \\n \\t space
 .EE
 .PP
-In rare circumstances \fB.\fP characters may be used in section names (e.g. for
-log file names in a filelog section), but should generally be avoided.
-To use \fB:\fP characters in section names (e.g. for Windows log file paths)
-they may be written as \fB::\fP, which the parser replaces with a single
-\fB:\fP.
-
 An example file in this format might look like this:
 .PP
 .EX
diff --git a/scripts/settings-test.c b/scripts/settings-test.c
index 336da09f0..5811d70b5 100644
--- a/scripts/settings-test.c
+++ b/scripts/settings-test.c
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ static void print_section(section_t *section, int level)
 
 /**
  * Recursively print a given section and all subsections/settings
- * FIXME: Doesn't work properly if any of the keys contain dots
  */
 static void print_settings_section(settings_t *settings, char *section,
 								   int level)
diff --git a/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_lexer.l b/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_lexer.l
index 9cde11900..c21ebbba3 100644
--- a/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_lexer.l
+++ b/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_lexer.l
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ static void include_files(parser_helper_t *ctx);
 /* type of our extra data */
 %option extra-type="parser_helper_t*"
 
-/* state used to scan names */
-%x nam
+/* state used to scan references */
+%x ref
 /* state used to scan values */
 %x val
 /* state used to scan include file patterns */
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ static void include_files(parser_helper_t *ctx);
 %x str
 
 /* pattern for section/key names */
-NAME [^#{}:,="\r\n\t ]
+NAME [^#{}:.,="\r\n\t ]
 
 %%
 
@@ -68,10 +68,15 @@ NAME [^#{}:,="\r\n\t ]
 \n|#.*\n				/* eat newlines and comments at the end of a line */
 
 "{"						|
-"}"						|
-","						return yytext[0];
+"}"						return yytext[0];
 
-":"						return REFS;
+"."						return DOT;
+","						return COMMA;
+
+":"						{
+	yy_push_state(ref, yyscanner);
+	return COLON;
+}
 
 "="						{
 	yy_push_state(val, yyscanner);
@@ -88,42 +93,27 @@ NAME [^#{}:,="\r\n\t ]
 	return STRING_ERROR;
 }
 
-{NAME} {
-	yyextra->string_init(yyextra);
-	yyextra->string_add(yyextra, yytext);
-	yy_push_state(nam, yyscanner);
+{NAME}+ 				{
+	yylval->s = strdup(yytext);
+	return NAME;
 }
 
-<nam>{
-	"::"				{
-		yyextra->string_add(yyextra, yytext+1);
-	}
+<ref>{
+	[\t ]*#[^\r\n]*			/* eat comments */
+	[\t\r ]+				/* eat whitespace */
+	\n|#.*\n				/* eat newlines and comments at the end of a line */
 
-	{NAME}+ 			{
-		yyextra->string_add(yyextra, yytext);
-	}
+	","						return COMMA;
 
-	<<EOF>>				|
-	.|[\r\n]			{
-		if (*yytext)
-		{
-			switch (yytext[0])
-			{
-				case '\n':
-					/* put the newline back to fix the line numbers */
-					unput('\n');
-					yy_set_bol(0);
-					break;
-				default:
-					/* these are parsed outside of this start condition */
-					unput(yytext[0]);
-					break;
-			}
-		}
-		yy_pop_state(yyscanner);
-		yylval->s = yyextra->string_get(yyextra);
+	{NAME}+(\.{NAME}+)* {
+		yylval->s = strdup(yytext);
 		return NAME;
 	}
+
+	.					{
+		unput(yytext[0]);
+		yy_pop_state(yyscanner);
+	}
 }
 
 <val>{
diff --git a/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_parser.y b/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_parser.y
index 7e72a90c9..cc1c91775 100644
--- a/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_parser.y
+++ b/src/libstrongswan/settings/settings_parser.y
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ static int yylex(YYSTYPE *lvalp, parser_helper_t *ctx)
 	array_t *refs;
 }
 %token <s> NAME STRING
-%token REFS ":"
+%token DOT "."
+%token COMMA ","
+%token COLON ":"
 %token NEWLINE STRING_ERROR
 
 /* ...and other symbols */
@@ -152,7 +154,7 @@ references:
 		$$ = array_create(0, 0);
 		array_insert($$, ARRAY_TAIL, $1);
 	}
-	| references ',' NAME
+	| references "," NAME
 	{
 		array_insert($1, ARRAY_TAIL, $3);
 		$$ = $1;
diff --git a/src/libstrongswan/tests/suites/test_settings.c b/src/libstrongswan/tests/suites/test_settings.c
index 6259c9ed0..e0609605c 100644
--- a/src/libstrongswan/tests/suites/test_settings.c
+++ b/src/libstrongswan/tests/suites/test_settings.c
@@ -1480,18 +1480,6 @@ START_TEST(test_valid)
 	ck_assert(settings->load_files(settings, path, FALSE));
 	verify_string("value", "valid.key");
 	verify_string("value1", "valid.key1");
-
-	contents = chunk_from_str(
-		"c::\\Logfiles\\charon.log { dmn = 1 }");
-	ck_assert(chunk_write(contents, path, 0022, TRUE));
-	ck_assert(settings->load_files(settings, path, FALSE));
-	verify_string("1", "%s.dmn", "c:\\Logfiles\\charon.log");
-
-	contents = chunk_from_str(
-		"section { c::\\Logfiles\\charon.log = 1 }");
-	ck_assert(chunk_write(contents, path, 0022, TRUE));
-	ck_assert(settings->load_files(settings, path, FALSE));
-	verify_string("1", "section.%s", "c:\\Logfiles\\charon.log");
 }
 END_TEST
 
@@ -1539,6 +1527,16 @@ START_TEST(test_invalid)
 		"incorrect :: ref {}");
 	ck_assert(chunk_write(contents, path, 0022, TRUE));
 	ck_assert(!settings->load_files(settings, path, FALSE));
+
+	contents = chunk_from_str(
+		"/var/log/daemon.log { dmn = 1 }");
+	ck_assert(chunk_write(contents, path, 0022, TRUE));
+	ck_assert(!settings->load_files(settings, path, FALSE));
+
+	contents = chunk_from_str(
+		"filelog { /var/log/daemon.log = 1 }");
+	ck_assert(chunk_write(contents, path, 0022, TRUE));
+	ck_assert(!settings->load_files(settings, path, FALSE));
 }
 END_TEST