diff --git a/src/main/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec.java b/src/main/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec.java
index 3ebf47c02a..844a07688a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec.java
+++ b/src/main/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ protected void reportDuplicateInfoKeyValue(final String duplicateKey, final Stri
      * @return a mapping of keys to objects
      */
     protected Map<String, Object> parseInfo(String infoField) {
-        if (infoField.indexOf(' ') != -1) {
+        if ((infoField.indexOf(' ') != -1) && !version.isAtLeastAsRecentAs(VCFHeaderVersion.VCF4_3)) {
             generateException(
                     String.format("Whitespace is not allowed in the INFO field in VCF version %s: %s",
                             version == null ?
diff --git a/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec42FeaturesTest.java b/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec42FeaturesTest.java
index 9f39228d5a..bbc66d58bc 100644
--- a/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec42FeaturesTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec42FeaturesTest.java
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 package htsjdk.variant.vcf;
 
 import htsjdk.HtsjdkTest;
+import htsjdk.samtools.util.Tuple;
+import htsjdk.tribble.TribbleException;
+import htsjdk.variant.variantcontext.VariantContext;
 import org.testng.Assert;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.List;
 
 public class VCFCodec42FeaturesTest extends HtsjdkTest {
     private static final Path TEST_PATH = Paths.get("src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/");
@@ -21,4 +25,19 @@ public void testV42PedigreeParsing() {
         Assert.assertEquals(vcf42PedigreeLine.getClass(), VCFHeaderLine.class);
         Assert.assertEquals(vcf42PedigreeLine.getValue(), "<Derived=NA12891, Original=NA12878>");
     }
+
+    @Test(expectedExceptions = TribbleException.class)
+    public void testVCF42RejectsInfoFieldWithSpaces() {
+        // 1st variant has an info field with a value containing an embedded space
+        final Path infoSpace42File = TEST_PATH.resolve("infoSpace42.vcf");
+
+        try ( final VCFFileReader vcfReader = new VCFFileReader(infoSpace42File, false) ){
+            for (final VariantContext vc : vcfReader) {
+
+            }
+        } catch (final TribbleException e) {
+            Assert.assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Whitespace is not allowed"));
+            throw e;
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec43FeaturesTest.java b/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec43FeaturesTest.java
index 8dbf6dd30d..fd9a4ffadb 100644
--- a/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec43FeaturesTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/htsjdk/variant/vcf/VCFCodec43FeaturesTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package htsjdk.variant.vcf;
 
+import htsjdk.beta.io.IOPathUtils;
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.CloseableIterator;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.FileExtensions;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.Interval;
@@ -19,8 +21,7 @@
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.List;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ public void testVCF43PercentEncoding(final Path testFile, int ignored) {
         Assert.assertEquals(vc.getContig(), "1");
         Assert.assertEquals(vc.getStart(), 327);
         // set=fil%3AteredInBoth
-        Assert.assertEquals(vc.getCommonInfo().getAttribute("set"), "fil:teredInBoth");
+        Assert.assertEquals(vc.getCommonInfo().getAttribute("set"), "fil:teredIn Both");
     }
 
     @Test(dataProvider="all43Files")
@@ -203,6 +204,42 @@ public void testVCF43IndexRoundTripQuery(final Path testFile) throws IOException
         }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testVCF43AcceptsInfoFieldWithSpaces() {
+        // 1st variant has an info field with a value containing an embedded space
+        final Path infoSpaceFile = TEST_PATH.resolve("infoSpace43.vcf");
+        final Tuple<VCFHeader, List<VariantContext>> infoSpace43 = readEntireVCFIntoMemory(infoSpaceFile);
+        Assert.assertTrue(infoSpace43.b.get(0).getAttribute("set").toString().contains(" "));
+
+//        // also make sure it fails if we read in a VCF4.2 that contains a space in an info field
+//        final IOPath tmpVCF = IOPathUtils.createTempPath("testInfoSpace", FileExtensions.VCF);
+//        final Set<VCFHeaderLine> headerLinesWithoutVersionLine = infoSpace43.a
+//                .getMetaDataInInputOrder()
+//                .stream()
+//                .filter(l -> !VCFHeaderVersion.isFormatString(l.getKey())).collect(Collectors.toSet());
+//        final Set<VCFHeaderLine> vcf42HeaderLines = new LinkedHashSet<>(headerLinesWithoutVersionLine);
+//        vcf42HeaderLines.add(VCFHeader.makeHeaderVersionLine(VCFHeaderVersion.VCF4_2));
+//        final VCFHeader vcf42Header = new VCFHeader(vcf42HeaderLines, infoSpace43.a.getSampleNamesInOrder());
+//        // if its not 4.3, the rest of the test isn't valid
+//        Assert.assertEquals(vcf42Header.getVCFHeaderVersion(), VCFHeaderVersion.VCF4_2);
+//
+//        boolean testPasses = false;
+//        try (final VariantContextWriter writer = new VariantContextWriterBuilder()
+//                .setOutputFile(tmpVCF.toString())
+//                .unsetOption(Options.INDEX_ON_THE_FLY)
+//                .build()) {
+//            writer.writeHeader(vcf42Header);
+//            writer.add(infoSpace43.b.get(0));
+//        }
+//        try {
+//            readEntireVCFIntoMemory(tmpVCF.toPath());
+//        } catch (final TribbleException e) {
+//            Assert.assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Whitespace is not allowed"));
+//            testPasses = true;
+//        }
+//        Assert.assertTrue(testPasses);
+    }
+
     //
     // UTF8-specific tests
     //
diff --git a/src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/infoSpace42.vcf b/src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/infoSpace42.vcf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..089063193f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/infoSpace42.vcf
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+##fileformat=VCFv4.2
+##ALT=<ID=DEL,Description="Deletion",ExtraAltField="extra alt">
+##ALT=<ID=DUP,Description="Duplication">
+##ALT=<ID=INS,Description="Insertion">
+##ALT=<ID=INV,Description="Inversion">
+##ALT=<ID=INVDUP,Description="InvertedDUP with unknown boundaries">
+##ALT=<ID=TRA,Description="Translocation">
+##FILTER=<ID=GATK_STANDARD,Description="Standard GATK filter",ExtraFilterField="extra filter field">
+##FILTER=<ID=HARD_TO_VALIDATE,Description="Hard to validate">
+##FORMAT=<ID=AD,Number=R,Type=Integer,Description="Allelic depths for the ref and alt alleles in the order listed",ExtraFormatField="extra format">
+##FORMAT=<ID=DP,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Read Depth (only filtered reads used for calling)">
+##FORMAT=<ID=GQ,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Genotype Quality">
+##FORMAT=<ID=GT,Number=1,Type=String,Description="Genotype">
+##FORMAT=<ID=PL,Number=G,Type=Integer,Description="Normalized, Phred-scaled likelihoods for genotypes as defined in the VCF specification">
+##INFO=<ID=AB,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Allele Balance for hets (ref/(ref+alt))",ExtraInfoField="extra info">
+##INFO=<ID=AC,Number=A,Type=Integer,Description="Allele count in genotypes, for each ALT allele, in the same order as listed">
+##INFO=<ID=AF,Number=A,Type=Float,Description="Allele Frequency, for each ALT allele, in the same order as listed">
+##INFO=<ID=AN,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Total number of alleles in called genotypes">
+##INFO=<ID=BaseQRankSum,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Phred-scaled p-value From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref base qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=BaseQRankSumZ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Z-score From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref base qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=DB,Number=0,Type=Flag,Description="dbSNP Membership">
+##INFO=<ID=DP,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Approximate read depth; some reads may have been filtered">
+##INFO=<ID=DP,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Total Depth">
+##INFO=<ID=DS,Number=0,Type=Flag,Description="Were any of the samples downsampled?">
+##INFO=<ID=Dels,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Fraction of Reads Containing Spanning Deletions">
+##INFO=<ID=HRun,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Largest Contiguous Homopolymer Run of Variant Allele In Either Direction">
+##INFO=<ID=HaplotypeScore,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Consistency of the site with at most two segregating haplotypes">
+##INFO=<ID=MQ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="RMS Mapping Quality">
+##INFO=<ID=MQ0,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Total Mapping Quality Zero Reads">
+##INFO=<ID=MQRankSum,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Phred-scaled p-value From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read mapping qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=MQRankSumZ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Z-score From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read mapping qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=QD,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Variant Confidence/Quality by Depth">
+##INFO=<ID=ReadPosRankSum,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Phred-scaled p-value From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read position bias">
+##INFO=<ID=ReadPosRankSumZ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Z-score From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read position bias">
+##INFO=<ID=SB,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Strand Bias">
+##INFO=<ID=set,Number=1,Type=String,Description="Source VCF for the merged record in CombineVariants">
+##contig=<ID=1,length=249250621,assembly=b37,extraContigField="extra contig field">
+##contig=<ID=10,length=135534747,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=11,length=135006516,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=12,length=133851895,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=13,length=115169878,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=14,length=107349540,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=15,length=102531392,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=16,length=90354753,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=17,length=81195210,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=18,length=78077248,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=19,length=59128983,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=2,length=243199373,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=20,length=63025520,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=21,length=48129895,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=22,length=51304566,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=3,length=198022430,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=4,length=191154276,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=5,length=180915260,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=6,length=171115067,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=7,length=159138663,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=8,length=146364022,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=9,length=141213431,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=X,length=155270560,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=Y,length=59373566,assembly=b37>
+#CHROM	POS	ID	REF	ALT	QUAL	FILTER	INFO	FORMAT	NA19238	NA19239	NA19240
+1	327	.	T	<*>	666.18	GATK_STANDARD;HARD_TO_VALIDATE	AB=0.74;AC=3;AF=0.50;AN=6;DB=0;DP=936;Dels=0.00;HRun=3;MQ=34.66;MQ0=728;QD=0.71;SB=-268.74;set=filteredIn Both	GT:DP:GQ	1/0:10:62	1/0:37:99	1/0:53:99
diff --git a/src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/vcf43/infoSpace43.vcf b/src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/vcf43/infoSpace43.vcf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9040c6af1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/htsjdk/variant/vcf43/infoSpace43.vcf
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+##fileformat=VCFv4.3
+##ALT=<ID=DEL,Description="Deletion",ExtraAltField="extra alt">
+##ALT=<ID=DUP,Description="Duplication">
+##ALT=<ID=INS,Description="Insertion">
+##ALT=<ID=INV,Description="Inversion">
+##ALT=<ID=INVDUP,Description="InvertedDUP with unknown boundaries">
+##ALT=<ID=TRA,Description="Translocation">
+##FILTER=<ID=GATK_STANDARD,Description="Standard GATK filter",ExtraFilterField="extra filter field">
+##FILTER=<ID=HARD_TO_VALIDATE,Description="Hard to validate">
+##FORMAT=<ID=AD,Number=R,Type=Integer,Description="Allelic depths for the ref and alt alleles in the order listed",ExtraFormatField="extra format">
+##FORMAT=<ID=DP,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Read Depth (only filtered reads used for calling)">
+##FORMAT=<ID=GQ,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Genotype Quality">
+##FORMAT=<ID=GT,Number=1,Type=String,Description="Genotype">
+##FORMAT=<ID=PL,Number=G,Type=Integer,Description="Normalized, Phred-scaled likelihoods for genotypes as defined in the VCF specification">
+##INFO=<ID=AB,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Allele Balance for hets (ref/(ref+alt))",ExtraInfoField="extra info">
+##INFO=<ID=AC,Number=A,Type=Integer,Description="Allele count in genotypes, for each ALT allele, in the same order as listed">
+##INFO=<ID=AF,Number=A,Type=Float,Description="Allele Frequency, for each ALT allele, in the same order as listed">
+##INFO=<ID=AN,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Total number of alleles in called genotypes">
+##INFO=<ID=BaseQRankSum,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Phred-scaled p-value From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref base qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=BaseQRankSumZ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Z-score From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref base qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=DB,Number=0,Type=Flag,Description="dbSNP Membership">
+##INFO=<ID=DP,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Approximate read depth; some reads may have been filtered">
+##INFO=<ID=DP,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Total Depth">
+##INFO=<ID=DS,Number=0,Type=Flag,Description="Were any of the samples downsampled?">
+##INFO=<ID=Dels,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Fraction of Reads Containing Spanning Deletions">
+##INFO=<ID=HRun,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Largest Contiguous Homopolymer Run of Variant Allele In Either Direction">
+##INFO=<ID=HaplotypeScore,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Consistency of the site with at most two segregating haplotypes">
+##INFO=<ID=MQ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="RMS Mapping Quality">
+##INFO=<ID=MQ0,Number=1,Type=Integer,Description="Total Mapping Quality Zero Reads">
+##INFO=<ID=MQRankSum,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Phred-scaled p-value From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read mapping qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=MQRankSumZ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Z-score From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read mapping qualities">
+##INFO=<ID=QD,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Variant Confidence/Quality by Depth">
+##INFO=<ID=ReadPosRankSum,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Phred-scaled p-value From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read position bias">
+##INFO=<ID=ReadPosRankSumZ,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Z-score From Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test of Alt Vs. Ref read position bias">
+##INFO=<ID=SB,Number=1,Type=Float,Description="Strand Bias">
+##INFO=<ID=set,Number=1,Type=String,Description="Source VCF for the merged record in CombineVariants">
+##contig=<ID=1,length=249250621,assembly=b37,extraContigField="extra contig field">
+##contig=<ID=10,length=135534747,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=11,length=135006516,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=12,length=133851895,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=13,length=115169878,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=14,length=107349540,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=15,length=102531392,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=16,length=90354753,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=17,length=81195210,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=18,length=78077248,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=19,length=59128983,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=2,length=243199373,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=20,length=63025520,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=21,length=48129895,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=22,length=51304566,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=3,length=198022430,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=4,length=191154276,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=5,length=180915260,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=6,length=171115067,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=7,length=159138663,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=8,length=146364022,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=9,length=141213431,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=X,length=155270560,assembly=b37>
+##contig=<ID=Y,length=59373566,assembly=b37>
+#CHROM	POS	ID	REF	ALT	QUAL	FILTER	INFO	FORMAT	NA19238	NA19239	NA19240
+1	327	.	T	<*>	666.18	GATK_STANDARD;HARD_TO_VALIDATE	AB=0.74;AC=3;AF=0.50;AN=6;DB=0;DP=936;Dels=0.00;HRun=3;MQ=34.66;MQ0=728;QD=0.71;SB=-268.74;set=filteredIn Both	GT:DP:GQ	1/0:10:62	1/0:37:99	1/0:53:99