diff --git a/lisp/ob-gnuplot.el b/lisp/ob-gnuplot.el
index 8c4a5957b..b72126ae5 100644
--- a/lisp/ob-gnuplot.el
+++ b/lisp/ob-gnuplot.el
@@ -287,11 +287,21 @@ Pass PARAMS through to `orgtbl-to-generic' when exporting TABLE."
   (with-temp-file data-file
     (insert (let ((org-babel-gnuplot-timestamp-fmt
 		   (or (plist-get params :timefmt) "%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S")))
-	      (orgtbl-to-generic
-	       table
-	       (org-combine-plists
-		'(:sep "\t" :fmt org-babel-gnuplot-quote-tsv-field :raw t :backend ascii)
-		params)))))
+              (replace-regexp-in-string
+               ;; org export backend adds "|" at the beginning/end of
+               ;; the table lines.  Strip those.
+               "^|\\(.+\\)|$"
+               "\\1"
+	       (orgtbl-to-generic
+	        table
+	        (org-combine-plists
+		 '( :sep "\t" :fmt org-babel-gnuplot-quote-tsv-field
+                    ;; Two setting below are needed to make :fmt work.
+                    :raw t
+                    ;; Use `org', not `ascii' because `ascii' may
+                    ;; sometimes mishandle quoted strings.
+                    :backend org)
+		 params))))))
   data-file)
 
 (provide 'ob-gnuplot)