Yeah, that is more what I was thinking. Here is a similar method:

my $key;
for(  split /(?<==)/, $input  ) {    # Split after each "="
    s#(^|\s+)(\S+)=$##;              # Remove trailing key
    if(  defined $key  ) {           # Not first time thru:
        $hash{$key}= $_;
    }
    $key= $2;                        # Note next key to use.
}
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        - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")