diff --git a/src/main/bash/sdkman-env.sh b/src/main/bash/sdkman-env.sh
index 54b5aa3d..afa163c7 100644
--- a/src/main/bash/sdkman-env.sh
+++ b/src/main/bash/sdkman-env.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #
 
 function __sdk_env() {
-	readonly sdkmanrc='.sdkmanrc'
+	readonly sdkmanrc=".sdkmanrc"
 
 	if [[ $1 == 'init' ]]; then
 		cat <<- EOF > "$sdkmanrc"
@@ -28,33 +28,38 @@ function __sdk_env() {
 	fi
 
 	if [[ ! -f "$sdkmanrc" ]]; then
-		__sdkman_echo_red "SDKMAN can't find an .sdkmanrc file in your current directory."
+		__sdkman_echo_red "Could not find .sdkmanrc file in current directory."
 		echo ""
-		__sdkman_echo_yellow "We recommend creating one by entering 'sdk env init'."
+		__sdkman_echo_yellow "Run 'sdk env init' to create it."
 
 		return 1
 	fi
 
 	while IFS= read -r line || [[ -n $line ]]; do
-		__sdkman_is_blank_line_or_comment "$line" && continue
+		local normalised_line=$(__sdkman_normalise "$line")
 
-		if ! __sdkman_matches_candidate_format "$line"; then
-			__sdkman_echo_red "Invalid candidate format! Expected '<candidate> <version>' but found '$line'"
+		[[ -z $normalised_line ]] && continue
+
+		if ! __sdkman_matches_candidate_format "$normalised_line"; then
+			__sdkman_echo_red 'Invalid candidate format!'
+			echo ""
+			__sdkman_echo_yellow "Expected 'candidate=version' but found '$normalised_line'"
 
 			return 1
 		fi
 
-		local candidate version rest
-		IFS=$' \t' read -r candidate version rest <<< "$line"
-
-		__sdk_use "$candidate" "$version"
+		__sdk_use "${normalised_line%=*}" "${normalised_line#*=}"
 	done < "$sdkmanrc"
 }
 
-function __sdkman_is_blank_line_or_comment() {
-	[[ $1 =~ ^[[:blank:]]*(\#|$) ]]
+function __sdkman_normalise() {
+	# strip comments
+	local result="${1/\#*/}"
+
+	# strip whitespace
+	printf '%s\n' "${result//[[:space:]]/}"
 }
 
 function __sdkman_matches_candidate_format() {
-	[[ $1 =~ ^[[:blank:]]*[[:lower:]]+[[:blank:]]+[^[:blank:]]+ ]]
+	[[ $1 =~ ^[[:lower:]]+\=.+$ ]]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/cucumber/per_project_configuration.feature b/src/test/cucumber/per_project_configuration.feature
index 793bfdcb..8b6c2860 100644
--- a/src/test/cucumber/per_project_configuration.feature
+++ b/src/test/cucumber/per_project_configuration.feature
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Feature: Per-project configuration
 		And the exit code is 1
 
 	Scenario: The env command is issued with an sdkman project configuration present
-		Given the file ".sdkmanrc" exists and contains "groovy 2.4.1"
+		Given the file ".sdkmanrc" exists and contains "groovy=2.4.1"
 		And the candidate "groovy" version "2.0.5" is already installed and default
 		And the candidate "groovy" version "2.4.1" is a valid candidate version
 		And the candidate "groovy" version "2.4.1" is already installed but not default
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/sdkman/specs/EnvCommandSpec.groovy b/src/test/groovy/sdkman/specs/EnvCommandSpec.groovy
index 3d55e1f5..6956754e 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/sdkman/specs/EnvCommandSpec.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/sdkman/specs/EnvCommandSpec.groovy
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package sdkman.specs
 
 import sdkman.support.SdkmanEnvSpecification
+import spock.lang.Unroll
 
+@Unroll
 class EnvCommandSpec extends SdkmanEnvSpecification {
 
 	def setup() {
@@ -37,17 +39,17 @@ class EnvCommandSpec extends SdkmanEnvSpecification {
 
 		where:
 		sdkrc << [
-			"grails 2.1.0\ngroovy 2.4.1",
-			"grails 2.1.0\ngroovy 2.4.1\n",
-			"  grails 2.1.0\ngroovy 2.4.1\n",
-			"grails 2.1.0  \ngroovy 2.4.1\n",
-			"grails 2.1.0\ngroovy	2.4.1\n",
+			"grails=2.1.0\ngroovy=2.4.1",
+			"grails=2.1.0\ngroovy=2.4.1\n",
+			"  grails=2.1.0\ngroovy=2.4.1\n",
+			"grails=2.1.0	\ngroovy=2.4.1\n",
+			"grails=2.1.0\ngroovy = 2.4.1\n",
 		]
 	}
 
 	def "should issue an error if .sdkmanrc contains malformed candidate entries"() {
 		given:
-		new File(bash.workDir, ".sdkmanrc").text = "Groovy 2.4.1"
+		new File(bash.workDir, ".sdkmanrc").text = "groovy 2.4.1"
 
 		when:
 		bash.execute("sdk env")
@@ -77,9 +79,9 @@ class EnvCommandSpec extends SdkmanEnvSpecification {
 
 		where:
 		sdkrc << [
-			"\ngroovy 2.4.1\n",
-			"# this is a comment\ngroovy 2.4.1\n",
-			"groovy 2.4.1 # this is a comment too\n"
+			"\ngroovy=2.4.1\n",
+			"# this is a comment\ngroovy=2.4.1\n",
+			"groovy=2.4.1 # this is a comment too\n"
 		]
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file