diff --git a/src/core/kconfiggroup.h b/src/core/kconfiggroup.h
--- a/src/core/kconfiggroup.h
+++ b/src/core/kconfiggroup.h
@@ -647,9 +647,12 @@
      * reporting
      * @param value the UTF-8 data to be converted
      * @param aDefault the default value if @p pKey is not found
+     * @param xdgCompatibility parse values as coming from an XDG-compliant desktop file @since 5.62 @see readXdgListEntry
      * @return @p value converted to QVariant, or @p aDefault if @p value is invalid or cannot be converted.
      */
-    static QVariant convertToQVariant(const char *pKey, const QByteArray &value, const QVariant &aDefault);
+    static QVariant convertToQVariant(const char *pKey, const QByteArray &value, const QVariant &aDefault, bool xdgCompatibility);
+
+    KCONFIGCORE_DEPRECATED_EXPORT static QVariant convertToQVariant(const char *pKey, const QByteArray &value, const QVariant &aDefault) { return convertToQVariant(pKey, value, aDefault, false); }
     friend class KServicePrivate; // XXX yeah, ugly^5
 };
 
diff --git a/src/core/kconfiggroup.cpp b/src/core/kconfiggroup.cpp
--- a/src/core/kconfiggroup.cpp
+++ b/src/core/kconfiggroup.cpp
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
     }
 
     static QByteArray serializeList(const QList<QByteArray> &list);
-    static QStringList deserializeList(const QString &data);
+    static QStringList deserializeList(const QString &data, QLatin1Char separator = QLatin1Char(','));
 };
 
 QByteArray KConfigGroupPrivate::serializeList(const QList<QByteArray> &list)
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
     return value;
 }
 
-QStringList KConfigGroupPrivate::deserializeList(const QString &data)
+QStringList KConfigGroupPrivate::deserializeList(const QString &data, QLatin1Char separator)
 {
     if (data.isEmpty()) {
         return QStringList();
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@
             quoted = false;
         } else if (data[p].unicode() == '\\') {
             quoted = true;
-        } else if (data[p].unicode() == ',') {
+        } else if (data[p].unicode() == separator) {
             val.squeeze(); // release any unused memory
             value.append(val);
             val.clear();
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@
     return QStringLiteral(" (wrong format: expected %1 items, got %2)").arg(expected).arg(got);
 }
 
-QVariant KConfigGroup::convertToQVariant(const char *pKey, const QByteArray &value, const QVariant &aDefault)
+QVariant KConfigGroup::convertToQVariant(const char *pKey, const QByteArray &value, const QVariant &aDefault, bool xdgCompliant)
 {
     // if a type handler is added here you must add a QVConversions definition
     // to conversioncheck.h, or ConversionCheck::to_QVariant will not allow
@@ -234,9 +234,12 @@
         // readEntry(key, QString) not readEntry(key, QVariant)
         return QString::fromUtf8(value);
     case QMetaType::QVariantList:
-    case QMetaType::QStringList:
-        return KConfigGroupPrivate::deserializeList(QString::fromUtf8(value));
-    case QMetaType::QByteArray:
+    case QMetaType::QStringList: {
+        auto valueList = KConfigGroupPrivate::deserializeList(QString::fromUtf8(value), QLatin1Char(xdgCompliant ? ';' : ','));
+        if (xdgCompliant && !valueList.isEmpty() && valueList.constLast().isEmpty())
+            valueList.removeLast();
+        return valueList;
+    } case QMetaType::QByteArray:
         return value;
     case QMetaType::Bool: {
         const QByteArray lower(value.toLower());
@@ -780,29 +783,9 @@
         return aDefault;
     }
 
-    QStringList value;
-    QString val;
-    val.reserve(data.size());
-    // XXX List serialization being a separate layer from low-level parsing is
-    // probably a bug. No affected entries are defined, though.
-    bool quoted = false;
-    for (int p = 0; p < data.length(); p++) {
-        if (quoted) {
-            val += data[p];
-            quoted = false;
-        } else if (data[p] == QLatin1Char('\\')) {
-            quoted = true;
-        } else if (data[p] == QLatin1Char(';')) {
-            value.append(val);
-            val.clear();
-            val.reserve(data.size() - p);
-        } else {
-            val += data[p];
-        }
-    }
-    if (!val.isEmpty()) {
-        value.append(val);
-    }
+    QStringList value = KConfigGroupPrivate::deserializeList(data, QLatin1Char(';'));
+    if (!value.isEmpty() && value.constLast().isEmpty())
+        value.removeLast();
     return value;
 }