diff --git a/arrayfunc.c b/arrayfunc.c
--- a/arrayfunc.c
+++ b/arrayfunc.c
@@ -597,6 +597,27 @@ assign_assoc_from_kvlist (var, nlist, h, flags)
 	free (aval);
     }
 }
+
+/* Return non-zero if L appears to be a key-value pair associative array
+   compound assignment. */ 
+int
+kvpair_assignment_p (l)
+     WORD_LIST *l;
+{
+  return (l && (l->word->flags & W_ASSIGNMENT) == 0 && l->word->word[0] != '[');	/*]*/
+}
+
+char *
+expand_and_quote_kvpair_word (w)
+     char *w;
+{
+  char *t, *r;
+
+  t = w ? expand_assignment_string_to_string (w, 0) : 0;
+  r = sh_single_quote (t ? t : "");
+  free (t);
+  return r;
+}
 #endif
      
 /* Callers ensure that VAR is not NULL. Associative array assignments have not
@@ -640,7 +661,7 @@ assign_compound_array_list (var, nlist, flags)
   last_ind = (a && (flags & ASS_APPEND)) ? array_max_index (a) + 1 : 0;
 
 #if ASSOC_KVPAIR_ASSIGNMENT
-  if (assoc_p (var) && nlist && (nlist->word->flags & W_ASSIGNMENT) == 0 && nlist->word->word[0] != '[')	/*]*/
+  if (assoc_p (var) && kvpair_assignment_p (nlist))
     {
       iflags = flags & ~ASS_APPEND;
       assign_assoc_from_kvlist (var, nlist, nhash, iflags);
diff --git a/arrayfunc.h b/arrayfunc.h
--- a/arrayfunc.h
+++ b/arrayfunc.h
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ extern SHELL_VAR *assign_array_var_from_string PARAMS((SHELL_VAR *, char *, int)
 extern char *expand_and_quote_assoc_word PARAMS((char *, int));
 extern void quote_compound_array_list PARAMS((WORD_LIST *, int));
 
+extern int kvpair_assignment_p PARAMS((WORD_LIST *));
+extern char *expand_and_quote_kvpair_word PARAMS((char *));
+
 extern int unbind_array_element PARAMS((SHELL_VAR *, char *, int));
 extern int skipsubscript PARAMS((const char *, int, int));
 
diff --git a/patchlevel.h b/patchlevel.h
--- a/patchlevel.h
+++ b/patchlevel.h
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@
    regexp `^#define[ 	]*PATCHLEVEL', since that's what support/mkversion.sh
    looks for to find the patch level (for the sccs version string). */
 
-#define PATCHLEVEL 3
+#define PATCHLEVEL 4
 
 #endif /* _PATCHLEVEL_H_ */
diff --git a/subst.c b/subst.c
--- a/subst.c
+++ b/subst.c
@@ -11604,6 +11604,7 @@ expand_oneword (value, flags)
 {
   WORD_LIST *l, *nl;
   char *t;
+  int kvpair;
   
   if (flags == 0)
     {
@@ -11618,11 +11619,21 @@ expand_oneword (value, flags)
     {
       /* Associative array */
       l = parse_string_to_word_list (value, 1, "array assign");
+#if ASSOC_KVPAIR_ASSIGNMENT
+      kvpair = kvpair_assignment_p (l);
+#endif
+
       /* For associative arrays, with their arbitrary subscripts, we have to
 	 expand and quote in one step so we don't have to search for the
 	 closing right bracket more than once. */
       for (nl = l; nl; nl = nl->next)
 	{
+#if ASSOC_KVPAIR_ASSIGNMENT
+	  if (kvpair)
+	    /* keys and values undergo the same set of expansions */
+	    t = expand_and_quote_kvpair_word (nl->word->word);
+	  else
+#endif
 	  if ((nl->word->flags & W_ASSIGNMENT) == 0)
 	    t = sh_single_quote (nl->word->word ? nl->word->word : "");
 	  else