diff --git a/lib/connection-parameters.js b/lib/connection-parameters.js
index 5a6dc4318..05305a81f 100644
--- a/lib/connection-parameters.js
+++ b/lib/connection-parameters.js
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ var parse = function(str) {
   if(str.charAt(0) === '/') {
     return { host: str };
   }
+  // url parse expects spaces encoded as %20
+  str = str.replace(' ', '%20');
   var result = url.parse(str);
   var config = {};
   config.host = result.hostname;
diff --git a/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js b/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
index 7d09fa1eb..79e29c187 100644
--- a/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
@@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ test('initializing from a config string', function() {
     assert.equal(client.database, "databasename")
   })
 
+  test('uses the correct values from the config string with space in password', function() {
+    var client = new Client("pg://brian:pass word@host1:333/databasename")
+    assert.equal(client.user, 'brian')
+    assert.equal(client.password, "pass word")
+    assert.equal(client.host, "host1")
+    assert.equal(client.port, 333)
+    assert.equal(client.database, "databasename")
+  })
+
   test('when not including all values the defaults are used', function() {
     var client = new Client("pg://host1")
     assert.equal(client.user, process.env['PGUSER'] || process.env.USER)