diff --git a/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp b/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp
index a18f9bc4ccf..b0a5094a55a 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsexpression.cpp
@@ -4978,6 +4978,8 @@ QString QgsExpression::group( const QString& name )
 
 QString QgsExpression::formatPreviewString( const QVariant& value )
 {
+  static const int MAX_PREVIEW = 60;
+
   if ( value.canConvert<QgsGeometry>() )
   {
     //result is a geometry
@@ -5017,15 +5019,31 @@ QString QgsExpression::formatPreviewString( const QVariant& value )
   else if ( value.type() == QVariant::String )
   {
     QString previewString = value.toString();
-    if ( previewString.length() > 63 )
+    if ( previewString.length() > MAX_PREVIEW + 3 )
     {
-      return QString( tr( "'%1...'" ) ).arg( previewString.left( 60 ) );
+      return QString( tr( "'%1...'" ) ).arg( previewString.left( MAX_PREVIEW ) );
     }
     else
     {
       return previewString.prepend( '\'' ).append( '\'' );
     }
   }
+  else if ( value.type() == QVariant::Map )
+  {
+    QString mapStr;
+    const QVariantMap map = value.toMap();
+    for ( QVariantMap::const_iterator it = map.constBegin(); it != map.constEnd(); ++it )
+    {
+      if ( !mapStr.isEmpty() ) mapStr.append( ", " );
+      mapStr.append( it.key() ).append( ": " ).append( formatPreviewString( it.value() ) );
+      if ( mapStr.length() > MAX_PREVIEW + 3 )
+      {
+        mapStr = QString( tr( "%1..." ) ).arg( mapStr.left( MAX_PREVIEW ) );
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+    return tr( "<i>&lt;map: %1&gt;</i>" ).arg( mapStr );
+  }
   else
   {
     return value.toString();
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
index bc2bd826bfc..2f14a1b7497 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
@@ -2233,7 +2233,10 @@ bool QgsVectorLayer::deleteFeature( QgsFeatureId fid )
 bool QgsVectorLayer::deleteFeatures( const QgsFeatureIds& fids )
 {
   if ( !mEditBuffer )
+  {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "Cannot delete features (mEditBuffer==NULL)" );
     return false;
+  }
 
   bool res = mEditBuffer->deleteFeatures( fids );
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorlayereditbuffer.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorlayereditbuffer.cpp
index 048609b21a2..e339262eb36 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectorlayereditbuffer.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectorlayereditbuffer.cpp
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 #include "qgsvectordataprovider.h"
 #include "qgsvectorlayer.h"
 
-
 //! populate two lists (ks, vs) from map - in reverse order
 template <class Key, class T> void mapToReversedLists( const QMap< Key, T >& map, QList<Key>& ks, QList<T>& vs )
 {
@@ -150,17 +149,26 @@ bool QgsVectorLayerEditBuffer::addFeatures( QgsFeatureList& features )
 bool QgsVectorLayerEditBuffer::deleteFeature( QgsFeatureId fid )
 {
   if ( !( L->dataProvider()->capabilities() & QgsVectorDataProvider::DeleteFeatures ) )
+  {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "Cannot delete features (missing DeleteFeature capability)" );
     return false;
+  }
 
   if ( FID_IS_NEW( fid ) )
   {
     if ( !mAddedFeatures.contains( fid ) )
+    {
+      QgsDebugMsg( "Cannot delete features (in the list of added features)" );
       return false;
+    }
   }
   else // existing feature
   {
     if ( mDeletedFeatureIds.contains( fid ) )
+    {
+      QgsDebugMsg( "Cannot delete features (in the list of deleted features)" );
       return false;
+    }
   }
 
   L->undoStack()->push( new QgsVectorLayerUndoCommandDeleteFeature( this, fid ) );
@@ -170,12 +178,16 @@ bool QgsVectorLayerEditBuffer::deleteFeature( QgsFeatureId fid )
 bool QgsVectorLayerEditBuffer::deleteFeatures( const QgsFeatureIds& fids )
 {
   if ( !( L->dataProvider()->capabilities() & QgsVectorDataProvider::DeleteFeatures ) )
+  {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "Cannot delete features (missing DeleteFeatures capability)" );
     return false;
+  }
 
+  bool ok = true;
   Q_FOREACH ( QgsFeatureId fid, fids )
-    deleteFeature( fid );
+    ok = deleteFeature( fid ) && ok;
 
-  return true;
+  return ok;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/providers/postgres/CMakeLists.txt b/src/providers/postgres/CMakeLists.txt
index 24f1ddc8972..eb180b238cc 100644
--- a/src/providers/postgres/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/providers/postgres/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -56,8 +56,14 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(
   ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/../../ui
 )
 
+ADD_LIBRARY (postgresprovider_a STATIC ${PG_SRCS} ${PG_HDRS} ${PG_MOC_SRCS})
 ADD_LIBRARY (postgresprovider MODULE ${PG_SRCS} ${PG_HDRS} ${PG_MOC_SRCS})
 
+TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES (postgresprovider_a
+  ${POSTGRES_LIBRARY}
+  qgis_core
+  qgis_gui
+)
 TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES (postgresprovider
   ${POSTGRES_LIBRARY}
   qgis_core
diff --git a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.cpp b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.cpp
index 32ad429448e..d879f07778a 100644
--- a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.cpp
+++ b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.cpp
@@ -923,11 +923,42 @@ QString QgsPostgresConn::postgisVersion()
   return mPostgisVersionInfo;
 }
 
-QString QgsPostgresConn::quotedIdentifier( QString ident )
+QString QgsPostgresConn::quotedIdentifier( const QString& ident )
 {
-  ident.replace( '"', "\"\"" );
-  ident = ident.prepend( '\"' ).append( '\"' );
-  return ident;
+  QString result = ident;
+  result.replace( '"', "\"\"" );
+  return result.prepend( '\"' ).append( '\"' );
+}
+
+static QString quotedString( const QString& v )
+{
+  QString result = v;
+  result.replace( '\'', "''" );
+  if ( result.contains( '\\' ) )
+    return result.replace( '\\', "\\\\" ).prepend( "E'" ).append( '\'' );
+  else
+    return result.prepend( '\'' ).append( '\'' );
+}
+
+static QString doubleQuotedMapValue( const QString& v )
+{
+  QString result = v;
+  return "\"" + result.replace( '\\', "\\\\\\\\" ).replace( '\"', "\\\\\"" ).replace( '\'', "\\'" ) + "\"";
+}
+
+static QString quotedMap( const QVariantMap& map )
+{
+  QString ret;
+  for ( QVariantMap::const_iterator i = map.constBegin(); i != map.constEnd(); ++i )
+  {
+    if ( !ret.isEmpty() )
+    {
+      ret += ",";
+    }
+    ret.append( doubleQuotedMapValue( i.key() ) + "=>" +
+                doubleQuotedMapValue( i.value().toString() ) );
+  }
+  return "E'" + ret + "'::hstore";
 }
 
 QString QgsPostgresConn::quotedValue( const QVariant& value )
@@ -945,14 +976,12 @@ QString QgsPostgresConn::quotedValue( const QVariant& value )
     case QVariant::Bool:
       return value.toBool() ? "TRUE" : "FALSE";
 
-    default:
+    case QVariant::Map:
+      return quotedMap( value.toMap() );
+
     case QVariant::String:
-      QString v = value.toString();
-      v.replace( '\'', "''" );
-      if ( v.contains( '\\' ) )
-        return v.replace( '\\', "\\\\" ).prepend( "E'" ).append( '\'' );
-      else
-        return v.prepend( '\'' ).append( '\'' );
+    default:
+      return quotedString( value.toString() );
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.h b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.h
index 6afe3ce3ad4..2594e87ffdc 100644
--- a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.h
+++ b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresconn.h
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ class QgsPostgresConn : public QObject
 
     /** Double quote a PostgreSQL identifier for placement in a SQL string.
      */
-    static QString quotedIdentifier( QString ident );
+    static QString quotedIdentifier( const QString& ident );
 
     /** Quote a value for placement in a SQL string.
      */
diff --git a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.cpp b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.cpp
index 8301c0aaf1b..ae9d2f0499b 100644
--- a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.cpp
+++ b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.cpp
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@ QgsPostgresProvider::QgsPostgresProvider( QString const & uri )
   << QgsVectorDataProvider::NativeType( tr( "Date" ), "date", QVariant::Date, -1, -1, -1, -1 )
   << QgsVectorDataProvider::NativeType( tr( "Time" ), "time", QVariant::Time, -1, -1, -1, -1 )
   << QgsVectorDataProvider::NativeType( tr( "Date & Time" ), "timestamp without time zone", QVariant::DateTime, -1, -1, -1, -1 )
+
+  // complex types
+  << QgsVectorDataProvider::NativeType( tr( "Map" ), "hstore", QVariant::Map, -1, -1, -1, -1 )
   ;
 
   QString key;
@@ -382,6 +385,9 @@ static bool operator<( const QVariant &a, const QVariant &b )
           return al[i] < bl[i];
       }
 
+      case QVariant::Map:
+        return a.toMap() < b.toMap();
+
       case QVariant::Date:
         return a.toDate() < b.toDate();
 
@@ -966,7 +972,6 @@ bool QgsPostgresProvider::loadFields()
       else if ( fieldTypeName == "text" ||
                 fieldTypeName == "bool" ||
                 fieldTypeName == "geometry" ||
-                fieldTypeName == "hstore" ||
                 fieldTypeName == "inet" ||
                 fieldTypeName == "money" ||
                 fieldTypeName == "ltree" ||
@@ -1017,6 +1022,11 @@ bool QgsPostgresProvider::loadFields()
           fieldPrec = -1;
         }
       }
+      else if ( fieldTypeName == "hstore" )
+      {
+        fieldType = QVariant::Map;
+        fieldSize = -1;
+      }
       else
       {
         QgsMessageLog::logMessage( tr( "Field %1 ignored, because of unsupported type %2" ).arg( fieldName, fieldTypeName ), tr( "PostGIS" ) );
@@ -2149,7 +2159,10 @@ bool QgsPostgresProvider::deleteFeatures( const QgsFeatureIds & id )
   bool returnvalue = true;
 
   if ( mIsQuery )
+  {
+    QgsDebugMsg( "Cannot delete features (is a query)" );
     return false;
+  }
 
   QgsPostgresConn* conn = connectionRW();
   if ( !conn )
@@ -3467,6 +3480,11 @@ bool QgsPostgresProvider::convertField( QgsField &field, const QMap<QString, QVa
       fieldPrec = 0;
       break;
 
+    case QVariant::Map:
+      fieldType = "hstore";
+      fieldPrec = -1;
+      break;
+
     case QVariant::Double:
       if ( fieldPrec > 0 )
       {
@@ -3829,6 +3847,44 @@ QString  QgsPostgresProvider::description() const
   return tr( "PostgreSQL/PostGIS provider\n%1\nPostGIS %2" ).arg( pgVersion, postgisVersion );
 } //  QgsPostgresProvider::description()
 
+
+static QVariant parseHstore( const QString& value )
+{
+  QRegExp recordSep( "\\s*,\\s*" );
+  QRegExp valueExtractor( "^(?:\"((?:\\.|.)*)\"|((?:\\.|.)*))\\s*=>\\s*(?:\"((?:\\.|.)*)\"|((?:\\.|.)*))$" );
+  QVariantMap result;
+  Q_FOREACH ( QString record, value.split( recordSep ) )
+  {
+    if ( valueExtractor.exactMatch( record ) )
+    {
+      QString key = valueExtractor.cap( 1 ) + valueExtractor.cap( 2 );
+      key.replace( "\\\"", "\"" ).replace( "\\\\", "\\" );
+      QString value = valueExtractor.cap( 3 ) + valueExtractor.cap( 4 );
+      value.replace( "\\\"", "\"" ).replace( "\\\\", "\\" );
+      result.insert( key, value );
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      QgsLogger::warning( "Error parsing hstore record: " + record );
+    }
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+QVariant QgsPostgresProvider::convertValue( QVariant::Type type, const QString& value )
+{
+  if ( type == QVariant::Map )
+  {
+    return parseHstore( value );
+  }
+  QVariant v( value );
+
+  if ( !v.convert( type ) || value.isNull() )
+    v = QVariant( type );
+
+  return v;
+}
+
 /**
  * Class factory to return a pointer to a newly created
  * QgsPostgresProvider object
diff --git a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.h b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.h
index ef696a3f51f..23e2e3b1c05 100644
--- a/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.h
+++ b/src/providers/postgres/qgspostgresprovider.h
@@ -249,6 +249,14 @@ class QgsPostgresProvider : public QgsVectorDataProvider
      */
     virtual QgsTransaction* transaction() const override;
 
+    /**
+     * Convert the postgres string representation into the given QVariant type.
+     * @param type the wanted type
+     * @param value the value to convert
+     * @return a QVariant of the given type or a null QVariant
+     */
+    static QVariant convertValue( QVariant::Type type, const QString& value );
+
   signals:
     /**
      *   This is emitted whenever the worker thread has fully calculated the
diff --git a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp
index a9da5c69750..061a341049d 100644
--- a/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/core/testqgsexpression.cpp
@@ -2331,6 +2331,19 @@ class TestQgsExpression: public QObject
       QCOMPARE( result.toString(), QString( "f2" ) );
     }
 
+    void test_formatPreviewString()
+    {
+      QCOMPARE( QgsExpression::formatPreviewString( QVariant( "hello" ) ), QString( "'hello'" ) );
+      QCOMPARE( QgsExpression::formatPreviewString( QVariant( QVariantMap() ) ), QString( "<i>&lt;map: &gt;</i>" ) );
+
+      QVariantMap map;
+      map["1"] = "One";
+      map["2"] = "Two";
+      QCOMPARE( QgsExpression::formatPreviewString( QVariant( map ) ), QString( "<i>&lt;map: 1: 'One', 2: 'Two'&gt;</i>" ) );
+      map["3"] = "A very long string that is going to be truncated";
+      QCOMPARE( QgsExpression::formatPreviewString( QVariant( map ) ), QString( "<i>&lt;map: 1: 'One', 2: 'Two', 3: 'A very long string that is going to ...&gt;</i>" ) );
+    }
+
 };
 
 QTEST_MAIN( TestQgsExpression )
diff --git a/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt
index 7e8b2e9ba0e..b8c032011c9 100644
--- a/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/src/providers/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/geometry
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/core/raster
   ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/wms
+  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/providers/postgres
 )
 INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
   ${QT_INCLUDE_DIR}
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(SYSTEM
   ${PROJ_INCLUDE_DIR}
   ${GEOS_INCLUDE_DIR}
   ${QCA_INCLUDE_DIR}
+  ${POSTGRES_INCLUDE_DIR}
 )
 
 #############################################################
@@ -93,6 +95,12 @@ ADD_QGIS_TEST(wmsprovidertest
               testqgswmsprovider.cpp)
 TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_wmsprovidertest wmsprovider_a)
 
+ADD_QGIS_TEST(postgresprovidertest testqgspostgresprovider.cpp)
+TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_postgresprovidertest postgresprovider_a)
+
+ADD_QGIS_TEST(postgresconntest testqgspostgresconn.cpp)
+TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis_postgresconntest postgresprovider_a)
+
 #############################################################
 # WCS public servers test:
 # No need to test on all platforms
diff --git a/tests/src/providers/testqgspostgresconn.cpp b/tests/src/providers/testqgspostgresconn.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b7c9dfaaf39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/providers/testqgspostgresconn.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#include <QtTest/QtTest>
+#include <QObject>
+
+#include <qgspostgresconn.h>
+
+class TestQgsPostgresConn: public QObject
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+  private slots:
+    void quotedValueHstore()
+    {
+      QVariantMap map;
+      map["1"] = "2";
+      map["a"] = "b \"c' \\x";
+
+      const QString actual = QgsPostgresConn::quotedValue( map );
+      QCOMPARE( actual, QString( "E'\"1\"=>\"2\",\"a\"=>\"b \\\\\"c\\' \\\\\\\\x\"'::hstore" ) );
+    }
+
+    void quotedValueString()
+    {
+      QCOMPARE( QgsPostgresConn::quotedValue( "b" ), QString( "'b'" ) );
+      QCOMPARE( QgsPostgresConn::quotedValue( "b's" ), QString( "'b''s'" ) );
+      QCOMPARE( QgsPostgresConn::quotedValue( "b \"c' \\x" ), QString( "E'b \"c'' \\\\x'" ) );
+    }
+
+};
+
+QTEST_MAIN( TestQgsPostgresConn )
+#include "testqgspostgresconn.moc"
diff --git a/tests/src/providers/testqgspostgresprovider.cpp b/tests/src/providers/testqgspostgresprovider.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3464279b28a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/providers/testqgspostgresprovider.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#include <QtTest/QtTest>
+#include <QObject>
+
+#include <qgspostgresprovider.h>
+
+class TestQgsPostgresProvider: public QObject
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+  private slots:
+    void decodeHstore()
+    {
+      const QVariant decoded = QgsPostgresProvider::convertValue( QVariant::Map, "\"1\"=>\"2\", \"a\"=>\"b \\\"c'\"" );
+      QCOMPARE( decoded.type(), QVariant::Map );
+
+      QVariantMap expected;
+      expected["1"] = "2";
+      expected["a"] = "b \"c'";
+      qDebug() << "actual: " << decoded;
+      QCOMPARE( decoded.toMap(), expected );
+    }
+
+    void decodeHstoreNoQuote()
+    {
+      const QVariant decoded = QgsPostgresProvider::convertValue( QVariant::Map, "1=>2, a=>b" );
+      QCOMPARE( decoded.type(), QVariant::Map );
+
+      QVariantMap expected;
+      expected["1"] = "2";
+      expected["a"] = "b";
+      qDebug() << "actual: " << decoded;
+      QCOMPARE( decoded.toMap(), expected );
+    }
+};
+
+QTEST_MAIN( TestQgsPostgresProvider )
+#include "testqgspostgresprovider.moc"
diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_provider_postgres.py b/tests/src/python/test_provider_postgres.py
index e5fa309f946..e371b7aaf7f 100644
--- a/tests/src/python/test_provider_postgres.py
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_provider_postgres.py
@@ -335,6 +335,37 @@ class TestPyQgsPostgresProvider(unittest.TestCase, ProviderTestCase):
         best2 = QgsEditorWidgetRegistry.instance().findBest(vl, "fld2")
         self.assertEqual(best2.type(), "TextEdit")
 
+    def testHstore(self):
+        vl = QgsVectorLayer('%s table="qgis_test"."dict" sql=' % (self.dbconn), "testhstore", "postgres")
+        self.assertTrue(vl.isValid())
+
+        fields = vl.dataProvider().fields()
+        self.assertEqual(fields.at(fields.indexFromName('value')).type(), QVariant.Map)
+
+        f = next(vl.getFeatures(QgsFeatureRequest()))
+
+        value_idx = vl.fieldNameIndex('value')
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(f.attributes()[value_idx], dict))
+        self.assertEqual(f.attributes()[value_idx], {'a': 'b', '1': '2'})
+
+        new_f = QgsFeature(vl.fields())
+        new_f['pk'] = NULL
+        #new_f['value'] = {'x': 'a\'s "y" \\', 'z': 'end'}
+        new_f['value'] = {'simple': '1', 'doubleQuote': '"y"', 'quote': "'q'", 'backslash': '\\'}
+        r, fs = vl.dataProvider().addFeatures([new_f])
+        self.assertTrue(r)
+        new_pk = fs[0]['pk']
+        self.assertNotEqual(new_pk, NULL, fs[0].attributes())
+
+        try:
+            read_back = vl.getFeature(new_pk)
+            self.assertEqual(read_back['pk'], new_pk)
+            self.assertEqual(read_back['value'], new_f['value'])
+        finally:
+            self.assertTrue(vl.startEditing())
+            self.assertTrue(vl.deleteFeatures([new_pk]))
+            self.assertTrue(vl.commitChanges())
+
 
 class TestPyQgsPostgresProviderCompoundKey(unittest.TestCase, ProviderTestCase):
 
@@ -365,5 +396,6 @@ class TestPyQgsPostgresProviderCompoundKey(unittest.TestCase, ProviderTestCase):
     def partiallyCompiledFilters(self):
         return set([])
 
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg.sh b/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg.sh
index da665a73e25..6661877ed7d 100755
--- a/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg.sh
+++ b/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ SCRIPTS="
   tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg.sql
   tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg_reltests.sql
   tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg_vectorjoin.sql
+  tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg_hstore.sql
 "
 
 dropdb qgis_test 2> /dev/null || true
diff --git a/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg_hstore.sql b/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg_hstore.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e8cd1832011
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/provider/testdata_pg_hstore.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS hstore;
+
+DROP TABLE IF EXISTS qgis_test.dict;
+
+CREATE TABLE qgis_test.dict
+(
+  pk SERIAL NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
+  value hstore
+);
+
+INSERT INTO qgis_test.dict(value)
+  VALUES
+    ('a=>b,1=>2');