diff --git a/apps/startup-scripts/src/starter b/apps/startup-scripts/src/starter
index ead58a9b94..5585e7eba4 100755
--- a/apps/startup-scripts/src/starter
+++ b/apps/startup-scripts/src/starter
@@ -53,8 +53,13 @@ function config_value() {
     fi
 
     awk -F= -v key="$key" '
-        $0 ~ "^[[:space:]]*" key "[[:space:]]*=" {
-            value = $2
+        {
+            configKey = $1
+            gsub(/^[[:space:]]+|[[:space:]]+$/, "", configKey)
+        }
+        configKey == key {
+            value = $0
+            sub(/^[^=]*=/, "", value)
             sub(/[[:space:]]*[#;].*$/, "", value)
             gsub(/"/, "", value)
             gsub(/^[[:space:]]+|[[:space:]]+$/, "", value)
@@ -145,12 +150,32 @@ function wait_for_startup_guard() {
     local interval="${AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL:-2}"
     local elapsed=0
     local instances ports
+    local sleep_for
     local warned=0
 
     if [ "${AC_STARTUP_SKIP_GUARD:-0}" = "1" ]; then
         return 0
     fi
 
+    case "$timeout" in
+        ''|*[!0-9]*)
+            echo "Startup guard: invalid AC_STARTUP_GUARD_TIMEOUT '$timeout', using 90."
+            timeout=90
+            ;;
+    esac
+
+    case "$interval" in
+        ''|*[!0-9]*)
+            echo "Startup guard: invalid AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL '$interval', using 2."
+            interval=2
+            ;;
+    esac
+
+    if [ "$interval" -lt 1 ]; then
+        echo "Startup guard: AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL must be at least 1, using 1."
+        interval=1
+    fi
+
     while true; do
         instances="$(find_existing_instances)"
         ports="$(find_listening_guard_ports)"
@@ -176,8 +201,15 @@ function wait_for_startup_guard() {
             warned=1
         fi
 
-        sleep "$interval"
-        elapsed=$((elapsed + interval))
+        sleep_for="$interval"
+        if [ $((elapsed + sleep_for)) -gt "$timeout" ]; then
+            sleep_for=$((timeout - elapsed))
+        fi
+
+        [ "$sleep_for" -le 0 ] && continue
+
+        sleep "$sleep_for"
+        elapsed=$((elapsed + sleep_for))
     done
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/startup-scripts/test/test_startup_scripts.bats b/apps/startup-scripts/test/test_startup_scripts.bats
index b95c9db78c..82d49eba0b 100755
--- a/apps/startup-scripts/test/test_startup_scripts.bats
+++ b/apps/startup-scripts/test/test_startup_scripts.bats
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ EOF
     "$TEST_DIR/bin/duplicate-server" -c "$TEST_DIR/test-server.conf" &
     local duplicate_pid=$!
 
-    AC_STARTUP_GUARD_TIMEOUT=1 AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL=1 run "$SCRIPT_DIR/starter" "$TEST_DIR/bin" "duplicate-server" "" "$TEST_DIR/test-server.conf" "" "" 0
+    AC_STARTUP_GUARD_TIMEOUT=1 AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL=1 run timeout 5s "$SCRIPT_DIR/starter" "$TEST_DIR/bin" "duplicate-server" "" "$TEST_DIR/test-server.conf" "" "" 0
     kill "$duplicate_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
     wait "$duplicate_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ EOF
     nc -l 127.0.0.1 "$listen_port" >/dev/null &
     local listener_pid=$!
 
-    AC_STARTUP_GUARD_TIMEOUT=1 AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL=1 run "$SCRIPT_DIR/starter" "$TEST_DIR/bin" "worldserver" "" "$TEST_DIR/worldserver.conf" "" "" 0
+    AC_STARTUP_GUARD_TIMEOUT=1 AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL=1 run timeout 5s "$SCRIPT_DIR/starter" "$TEST_DIR/bin" "worldserver" "" "$TEST_DIR/worldserver.conf" "" "" 0
     kill "$listener_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
     wait "$listener_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
 
@@ -99,6 +99,37 @@ EOF
     [[ "$output" =~ "configured port(s) still listening: $listen_port" ]]
 }
 
+@test "starter: should parse config keys literally for startup guard" {
+    if ! command -v nc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        skip "nc is required for this test"
+    fi
+
+    cat > "$TEST_DIR/bin/worldserver" << 'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+echo "worldserver started"
+EOF
+    chmod +x "$TEST_DIR/bin/worldserver"
+
+    local listen_port=40124
+    cat > "$TEST_DIR/worldserver.conf" << EOF
+WorldServerPort = 40125
+SOAPXEnabled = 1
+SOAPXPort = $listen_port
+SOAP.Enabled = 0
+EOF
+    nc -l 127.0.0.1 "$listen_port" >/dev/null &
+    local listener_pid=$!
+
+    AC_STARTUP_GUARD_TIMEOUT=1 AC_STARTUP_GUARD_INTERVAL=1 run timeout 5s "$SCRIPT_DIR/starter" "$TEST_DIR/bin" "worldserver" "" "$TEST_DIR/worldserver.conf" "" "" 0
+    kill "$listener_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$listener_pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+    debug_on_failure
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
+    [[ "$output" =~ "worldserver started" ]]
+    [[ ! "$output" =~ "Startup guard: refusing" ]]
+}
+
 # ===== SIMPLE RESTARTER TESTS =====
 
 @test "simple-restarter: should fail with missing parameters" {