diff --git a/src/dict.c b/src/dict.c
index 079eb3e..53824f7 100644
--- a/src/dict.c
+++ b/src/dict.c
@@ -830,7 +830,7 @@
     tvkey.v_type = VAR_UNKNOWN;
     tv.v_type = VAR_UNKNOWN;
 
-    *arg = skipwhite_and_linebreak(*arg + 1, evalarg);
+    *arg = skipwhite_and_linebreak_keep_string(*arg + 1, evalarg);
     while (**arg != '}' && **arg != NUL)
     {
 	if ((literal
@@ -862,7 +862,7 @@
 	    goto failret;
 	}
 
-	*arg = skipwhite_and_linebreak(*arg + 1, evalarg);
+	*arg = skipwhite_and_linebreak_keep_string(*arg + 1, evalarg);
 	if (eval1(arg, &tv, evalarg) == FAIL)	// recursive!
 	{
 	    if (evaluate)
@@ -904,7 +904,7 @@
 	}
 
 	// the "}" can be on the next line
-	*arg = skipwhite_and_linebreak(*arg, evalarg);
+	*arg = skipwhite_and_linebreak_keep_string(*arg, evalarg);
 	if (**arg == '}')
 	    break;
 	if (!had_comma)