diff --git a/pkg/parameters/parameters.go b/pkg/parameters/parameters.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..87c62d65c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/parameters/parameters.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package parameters
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ParseVariableAssignments converts a string array of variable assignments
+// into a map of keys and values
+// Example:
+// [a=b c=abc1232=== d=banana d=pineapple] becomes map[a:b c:abc1232=== d:[pineapple]]
+func ParseVariableAssignments(params []string) (map[string]string, error) {
+	variables := make(map[string]string)
+	for _, p := range params {
+
+		parts := strings.SplitN(p, "=", 2)
+		if len(parts) < 2 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid parameter (%s), must be in name=value format", p)
+		}
+
+		variable := strings.TrimSpace(parts[0])
+		if variable == "" {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid parameter (%s), variable name is required", p)
+		}
+		value := strings.TrimSpace(parts[1])
+
+		variables[variable] = value
+	}
+
+	return variables, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/parameters/parameters_test.go b/pkg/parameters/parameters_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..577898c18d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/parameters/parameters_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package parameters
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestParseVariableAssignments(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		Name, Raw, Variable, Value string
+	}{
+		{"simple", "a=b", "a", "b"},
+		{"multiple equal signs", "c=abc1232===", "c", "abc1232==="},
+		{"empty value", "d=", "d", ""},
+		{"extra whitespace", " a = b ", "a", "b"},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		t.Run(tc.Name, func(t *testing.T) {
+
+			params := []string{tc.Raw}
+
+			got, err := ParseVariableAssignments(params)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+
+			want := make(map[string]string)
+			want[tc.Variable] = tc.Value
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(want, got) {
+				t.Fatalf("%s\nexpected:\n\t%v\ngot:\n\t%v\n", tc.Raw, want, got)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseVariableAssignments_MissingVariableName(t *testing.T) {
+	params := []string{"=b"}
+
+	_, err := ParseVariableAssignments(params)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("should have failed due to a missing variable name")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseVariableAssignments_OneVariableThreeValues(t *testing.T) {
+	params := []string{"a=banana", "a=pineapple", "a=coconut"}
+
+	got, err := ParseVariableAssignments(params)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	want := map[string]string{
+		"a": "coconut",
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(want, got) {
+		t.Fatalf("%s\nexpected:\n\t%v\ngot:\n\t%v\n", "one var three values", want, got)
+	}
+}