diff --git a/keysparsing.go b/keysparsing.go
index 4deed811..b67664f6 100644
--- a/keysparsing.go
+++ b/keysparsing.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ func parseKey(key string) ([]string, error) {
 	groups := []string{}
 	var buffer bytes.Buffer
 	inQuotes := false
+	wasInQuotes := false
 	escapeNext := false
 	ignoreSpace := true
 	expectDot := false
@@ -33,16 +34,27 @@ func parseKey(key string) ([]string, error) {
 			escapeNext = true
 			continue
 		case '"':
+			if inQuotes {
+				groups = append(groups, buffer.String())
+				buffer.Reset()
+				wasInQuotes = true
+			}
 			inQuotes = !inQuotes
 			expectDot = false
 		case '.':
 			if inQuotes {
 				buffer.WriteRune(char)
 			} else {
-				groups = append(groups, buffer.String())
-				buffer.Reset()
+				if !wasInQuotes {
+					if buffer.Len() == 0 {
+						return nil, fmt.Errorf("empty key group")
+					}
+					groups = append(groups, buffer.String())
+					buffer.Reset()
+				}
 				ignoreSpace = true
 				expectDot = false
+				wasInQuotes = false
 			}
 		case ' ':
 			if inQuotes {
diff --git a/keysparsing_test.go b/keysparsing_test.go
index ef7e2a51..1a9eccca 100644
--- a/keysparsing_test.go
+++ b/keysparsing_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 func testResult(t *testing.T, key string, expected []string) {
 	parsed, err := parseKey(key)
+	t.Logf("key=%s expected=%s parsed=%s", key, expected, parsed)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal("Unexpected error:", err)
 	}
@@ -43,7 +44,13 @@ func TestBaseKeyPound(t *testing.T) {
 	testError(t, "hello#world", "invalid bare character: #")
 }
 
+func TestQuotedKeys(t *testing.T) {
+	testResult(t, `hello."foo".bar`, []string{"hello", "foo", "bar"})
+	testResult(t, `"hello!"`, []string{"hello!"})
+}
+
 func TestEmptyKey(t *testing.T) {
 	testError(t, "", "empty key")
 	testError(t, " ", "empty key")
+	testResult(t, `""`, []string{""})
 }
diff --git a/parser_test.go b/parser_test.go
index 7f32ea8c..8f80a149 100644
--- a/parser_test.go
+++ b/parser_test.go
@@ -177,6 +177,16 @@ func TestStringEscapables(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestEmptyQuotedString(t *testing.T) {
+	tree, err := Load(`[""]
+"" = 1`)
+	assertTree(t, tree, err, map[string]interface{}{
+		"": map[string]interface{}{
+			"": int64(1),
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestBools(t *testing.T) {
 	tree, err := Load("a = true\nb = false")
 	assertTree(t, tree, err, map[string]interface{}{
@@ -446,7 +456,7 @@ func TestDuplicateKeys(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestEmptyIntermediateTable(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := Load("[foo..bar]")
-	if err.Error() != "(1, 2): empty intermediate table" {
+	if err.Error() != "(1, 2): invalid group array key: empty key group" {
 		t.Error("Bad error message:", err.Error())
 	}
 }
diff --git a/toml.go b/toml.go
index c0e1ad2e..ad23fe85 100644
--- a/toml.go
+++ b/toml.go
@@ -222,9 +222,6 @@ func (t *TomlTree) SetPath(keys []string, value interface{}) {
 func (t *TomlTree) createSubTree(keys []string, pos Position) error {
 	subtree := t
 	for _, intermediateKey := range keys {
-		if intermediateKey == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("empty intermediate table")
-		}
 		nextTree, exists := subtree.values[intermediateKey]
 		if !exists {
 			tree := newTomlTree()