diff --git a/pygments/lexers/configs.py b/pygments/lexers/configs.py
index ab9f5ff9ba..04b09cf4e7 100644
--- a/pygments/lexers/configs.py
+++ b/pygments/lexers/configs.py
@@ -46,15 +46,18 @@ class IniLexer(RegexLexer):
             (r'\s+', Whitespace),
             (r'[;#].*', Comment.Single),
             (r'\[.*?\]$', Keyword),
-            (r'(.*?)([  \t]*)(=)([  \t]*)([^;#\n]*[  \t]\\\n)',
-             bygroups(Name.Attribute, Whitespace, Operator, Whitespace, String), "value"),
-            (r'(.*?)([  \t]*)(=)([  \t]*)([^;#\n]*)',
+            (r'(.*?)([  \t]*)(=)([  \t]*)([^;#\n]*)(\\)(\s+)',
+             bygroups(Name.Attribute, Whitespace, Operator, Whitespace, String, Text, Whitespace),
+             "value"),
+            (r'(.*?)([  \t]*)(=)([  \t]*)([^ ;#\n]*(?: [^ ;#\n]+)*)',
              bygroups(Name.Attribute, Whitespace, Operator, Whitespace, String)),
             # standalone option, supported by some INI parsers
             (r'(.+?)$', Name.Attribute),
         ],
         'value': [     # line continuation
-            (r'.*\\[ \t]*\n', String),
+            (r'\s+', Whitespace),
+            (r'(\s*)(.*)(\\)([ \t]*)',
+             bygroups(Whitespace, String, Text, Whitespace)),
             (r'.*$', String, "#pop"),
         ],
     }
diff --git a/tests/examplefiles/ini/test.ini.output b/tests/examplefiles/ini/test.ini.output
index 0b79e410e0..27a91956fc 100644
--- a/tests/examplefiles/ini/test.ini.output
+++ b/tests/examplefiles/ini/test.ini.output
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 ' '           Text.Whitespace
 '='           Operator
 ' '           Text.Whitespace
-'bar '        Literal.String
+'bar'         Literal.String
+' '           Text.Whitespace
 '; inline comment' Comment.Single
 '\n'          Text.Whitespace
 
@@ -13,7 +14,8 @@
 ' '           Text.Whitespace
 '='           Operator
 ' '           Text.Whitespace
-'foo '        Literal.String
+'foo'         Literal.String
+' '           Text.Whitespace
 '# inline comment with \\' Comment.Single
 '\n                ' Text.Whitespace
 '# line continuation' Comment.Single
@@ -41,9 +43,10 @@
 ' '           Text.Whitespace
 '='           Operator
 ' '           Text.Whitespace
-"Asia, Africa, 'North America', South America, \\\n" Literal.String
-
-'           Antarctica, Europe, Australia' Literal.String
+"Asia, Africa, 'North America', South America, " Literal.String
+'\\'          Text
+'\n           ' Text.Whitespace
+'Antarctica, Europe, Australia' Literal.String
 '\n\n'        Text.Whitespace
 
 'implicit_boolean' Name.Attribute