diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/gitsm.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/gitsm.py
index f7f3af7212..f193ae3c9b 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/gitsm.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch2/gitsm.py
@@ -47,18 +47,20 @@ class GitSM(Git):
         subrevision = {}
 
         def parse_gitmodules(gitmodules):
+            """
+            Parse .gitmodules and return a dictionary of submodule paths to dictionaries with path and url members.
+            """
+            import configparser
+            cp = configparser.ConfigParser()
+            cp.read_string(gitmodules)
+
             modules = {}
-            module = ""
-            for line in gitmodules.splitlines():
-                if line.startswith('[submodule'):
-                    module = line.split('"')[1]
-                    modules[module] = {}
-                elif module and line.strip().startswith('path'):
-                    path = line.split('=')[1].strip()
-                    modules[module]['path'] = path
-                elif module and line.strip().startswith('url'):
-                    url = line.split('=')[1].strip()
-                    modules[module]['url'] = url
+            for section in [s for s in cp.sections() if s.startswith("submodule ")]:
+                module = section.split('"')[1]
+                modules[module] = {
+                    'path': cp.get(section, 'path'),
+                    'url': cp.get(section, 'url')
+                }
             return modules
 
         # Collect the defined submodules, and their attributes