diff --git a/Releasenotes.md b/Releasenotes.md
index 87d3e13..9f6f076 100644
--- a/Releasenotes.md
+++ b/Releasenotes.md
@@ -190,4 +190,6 @@ Major Release 5.0.0
 * Breaking Change: Removed all API deprecated in version 4
 * Breaking Change: Switch to Java 8 language level
 * Bug fix / Enhancement: if statement more robust (https://github.com/DJCordhose/jmte/issues/8)
-* Refactoring / Cleanup: Removed all caliper tests and real life test
\ No newline at end of file
+* Refactoring / Cleanup: Removed all caliper tests and real life test
+* Deprecation: Configurable expression syntax, will be fixed to ${...}
+* Enhancement: transform using a *null* template will yield *null*
diff --git a/src/com/floreysoft/jmte/token/Lexer.java b/src/com/floreysoft/jmte/token/Lexer.java
index 70757aa..f7ddba7 100644
--- a/src/com/floreysoft/jmte/token/Lexer.java
+++ b/src/com/floreysoft/jmte/token/Lexer.java
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ private AbstractToken innerNextToken(final String untrimmedInput) {
 					negated = false;
 					ifExpression = objectExpression;
 				}
-				if (!ifExpression.contains("=") && !ifExpression.contains(";")) {
+				if (!input.contains("=") && !input.contains(";")) {
 					return new IfToken(ifExpression, negated);
 				} else {
                     // HACK: if the value we compare to contains a space, it is cut off
@@ -86,11 +86,16 @@ private AbstractToken innerNextToken(final String untrimmedInput) {
                     String operand = null;
                     if (hasCmp) {
                         operand = completeIfExpression.substring(posLastEq + 1);
+                        // heuristic: when there is leading or trailing space and after that a quote begins,
+						// it must be ignorable white space
+						if (isQuoted(operand.trim())) {
+							operand = operand.trim();
+						}
                         // remove optional quotations
-                        if (operand.startsWith("'") || operand.startsWith("\"")) {
+                        if (isQuoted(operand)) {
                             operand = operand.substring(1, operand.length() - 1);
                         }
-                        complexVariable = completeIfExpression.substring(0, posLastEq);
+                        complexVariable = completeIfExpression.substring(0, posLastEq).trim();
                     } else {
                         complexVariable = completeIfExpression;
                     }
@@ -231,4 +236,8 @@ private AbstractToken innerNextToken(final String untrimmedInput) {
 
 	}
 
+	private static boolean isQuoted(String operand) {
+		return operand.startsWith("'") || operand.startsWith("\"");
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/test/com/floreysoft/jmte/EngineTest.java b/test/com/floreysoft/jmte/EngineTest.java
index 28e31f4..04cdc9b 100644
--- a/test/com/floreysoft/jmte/EngineTest.java
+++ b/test/com/floreysoft/jmte/EngineTest.java
@@ -269,6 +269,13 @@ public String toString() {
 		DEFAULT_MODEL.put("bigDecimal1", new BigDecimal("1.0"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void transformRobustToNull() {
+		String output = newEngine()
+				.transform(null, new HashMap<>());
+		assertNull(output);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void variableName() throws Exception {
 		Map<String, Object> simpleModel = new HashMap<String, Object>();
@@ -1731,6 +1738,13 @@ public void ifEqSpacesSample() throws Exception {
 		assertEquals("Filbert", output);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void ifEqSpacesElseSample() throws Exception {
+		String input = "${if address = 'Filbert2'}${address}${else}NIX${end}";
+		String output = newEngine().transform(input, DEFAULT_MODEL);
+		assertEquals("NIX", output);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void ifEqSpacesRendererSample() throws Exception {
 		String input = "${if address;string = 'Filbert'}${address}${else}NIX${end}";