diff --git a/include/mapnik/util/dasharray_parser.hpp b/include/mapnik/util/dasharray_parser.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e9a3753f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/mapnik/util/dasharray_parser.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*****************************************************************************
+ *
+ * This file is part of Mapnik (c++ mapping toolkit)
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Artem Pavlenko
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ *
+ *****************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef MAPNIK_UTIL_DASHARRAY_PARSER_HPP
+#define MAPNIK_UTIL_DASHARRAY_PARSER_HPP
+
+#include <boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp>
+#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_core.hpp>
+#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_operator.hpp>
+#include <boost/spirit/include/phoenix_stl.hpp>
+
+namespace mapnik { namespace util {
+
+template <typename Iterator>
+bool parse_dasharray(Iterator first, Iterator last, std::vector<double>& dasharray)
+{
+    using qi::double_;
+    using qi::phrase_parse;
+    using qi::_1;
+    using qi::lit;
+    using ascii::space;
+    using phoenix::push_back;
+    // SVG 
+    // dasharray ::= (length | percentage) (comma-wsp dasharray)?
+    // no support for 'percentage' as viewport is unknown at load_map
+    // 
+    bool r = phrase_parse(first, last,
+        (
+            lit("none") | (double_[push_back(phoenix::ref(dasharray), _1)]
+                           >> *(',' >> double_[push_back(phoenix::ref(dasharray), _1)]))
+        )
+        ,
+        space);
+
+    if (first != last) 
+        return false;
+    
+    return r;
+}
+
+}}
+
+#endif // MAPNIK_UTIL_DASHARRAY_PARSER_HPP
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index d27071c42..e30a72e3c 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 #include <mapnik/symbolizer.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/rule.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/config_error.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/dasharray_parser.hpp>
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/optional.hpp>
@@ -1229,39 +1230,29 @@ void map_parser::parse_stroke(stroke & strk, xml_node const & sym)
     optional<std::string> str = sym.get_opt_attr<std::string>("stroke-dasharray");
     if (str)
     {
-        tokenizer<> tok (*str);
         std::vector<double> dash_array;
-        tokenizer<>::iterator itr = tok.begin();
-        for (; itr != tok.end(); ++itr)
+        if (util::parse_dasharray((*str).begin(),(*str).end(),dash_array))
         {
-            try
+            if (!dash_array.empty())
             {
-                double f = boost::lexical_cast<double>(*itr);
-                dash_array.push_back(f);
-            }
-            catch (boost::bad_lexical_cast &)
-            {
-                throw config_error(std::string("Failed to parse dasharray ") +
-                                   "'. Expected a " +
-                                   "list of floats but got '" + (*str) + "'");
-            }
-        }
-        if (dash_array.size())
-        {
-            size_t size = dash_array.size();
-            if (size % 2)
-            {
-                for (size_t i=0; i < size ;++i)
+                size_t size = dash_array.size();
+                if (size % 2 == 1) 
+                    dash_array.insert(dash_array.end(),dash_array.begin(),dash_array.end());
+                
+                std::vector<double>::const_iterator pos = dash_array.begin();
+                while (pos != dash_array.end())
                 {
-                    dash_array.push_back(dash_array[i]);
+                    if (*pos > 0.0 || *(pos+1) > 0.0) // avoid both dash and gap eq 0.0                        
+                        strk.add_dash(*pos,*(pos + 1));
+                    pos +=2;
                 }
-            }
-            std::vector<double>::const_iterator pos = dash_array.begin();
-            while (pos != dash_array.end())
-            {
-                strk.add_dash(*pos,*(pos + 1));
-                pos +=2;
-            }
+            }   
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            throw config_error(std::string("Failed to parse dasharray ") +
+                               "'. Expected a " +
+                               "list of floats or 'none' but got '" + (*str) + "'");
         }
     }
 }