diff --git a/plugins/modules/dconf.py b/plugins/modules/dconf.py
index 4d7ed34bf93..68ca37f3a5b 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/dconf.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/dconf.py
@@ -258,6 +258,48 @@ def __init__(self, module, check_mode=False):
         # Check if dconf binary exists
         self.dconf_bin = self.module.get_bin_path('dconf', required=True)
 
+    # GVariant strings can use either single or double quotes, and therefore
+    # the user can use either single or double quotes when specifying a string
+    # value in their task, and what they choose to use may not match what is
+    # output by the dconf command, so for accurate comparison we need to strip
+    # the quotes and just compare what's inside them.
+    #
+    # This doesn't give us 100% accurate GVariant string interpretation, but
+    # it solves many of the common use cases and makes us much more accurate
+    # than if we just compare the two strings directly.
+    @staticmethod
+    def gvariant_maybe_string(value):
+        """
+        Partially canonicalization value to avoid quotation mark inconsistencies
+
+        :returns: a massaged value of the same type as its input
+        """
+        if not isinstance(value, str):
+            return value
+        if len(value) < 2:
+            return value
+        if value[0] in ('"', "'") and value[-1] == value[0]:
+            # Whichever quotation mark the user has chosen to use will
+            # definitely need to be backslash-quoted in the string, so to
+            # improve our likelihood of getting this check right, remove those
+            # backslashes.
+            chars = list(value[1:-1])
+            i = 0
+            while i < len(chars) - 1:
+                if chars[i] == '\\':
+                    if chars[i+1] == value[0]:
+                        chars[i] = ''
+                    else:
+                        # Otherwise we'll mishandle a \ quoted with a \
+                        i += 1
+                i += 1
+            return ''.join(chars)
+        return value
+
+    def gvariant_equal(self, value1, value2):
+        return (self.gvariant_maybe_string(value1) ==
+                self.gvariant_maybe_string(value2))
+
     def read(self, key):
         """
         Retrieves current value associated with the dconf key.
@@ -298,7 +340,7 @@ def write(self, key, value):
         """
         # If no change is needed (or won't be done due to check_mode), notify
         # caller straight away.
-        if value == self.read(key):
+        if self.gvariant_equal(value, self.read(key)):
             return False
         elif self.check_mode:
             return True