diff --git a/lib/bb/parse/parse_py/ConfHandler.py b/lib/bb/parse/parse_py/ConfHandler.py
index 1bde597254..675838d845 100644
--- a/lib/bb/parse/parse_py/ConfHandler.py
+++ b/lib/bb/parse/parse_py/ConfHandler.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ __config_regexp__  = re.compile( r"""
     (?P<var>[a-zA-Z0-9\-_+.${}/~:]*?)
     (\[(?P<flag>[a-zA-Z0-9\-_+.][a-zA-Z0-9\-_+.@/]*)\])?
 
-    \s* (
+    (?P<whitespace>\s*) (
         (?P<colon>:=) |
         (?P<lazyques>\?\?=) |
         (?P<ques>\?=) |
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ __config_regexp__  = re.compile( r"""
         (?P<predot>=\.) |
         (?P<postdot>\.=) |
         =
-    ) \s*
+    ) (?P<whitespace2>\s*)
 
     (?!'[^']*'[^']*'$)
     (?!\"[^\"]*\"[^\"]*\"$)
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ def feeder(lineno, s, fn, statements, baseconfig=False, conffile=True):
         groupd = m.groupdict()
         if groupd['var'] == "":
             raise ParseError("Empty variable name in assignment: '%s'" % s, fn, lineno);
+        if not groupd['whitespace'] or not groupd['whitespace2']:
+            logger.warning("%s:%s has a lack of whitespace around the assignment: '%s'" % (fn, lineno, s))
         ast.handleData(statements, fn, lineno, groupd)
         return