diff --git a/git/config.py b/git/config.py
index 209f2ffef..d5256e0d6 100644
--- a/git/config.py
+++ b/git/config.py
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ def _read(self, fp, fpname):
 				continue
 			else:
 				# is it a section header?
-				mo = self.SECTCRE.match(line)
+				mo = self.SECTCRE.match(line.strip()) # strip the line to remove leading spaces
 				if mo:
 					sectname = mo.group('header')
 					if sectname in self._sections: