diff --git a/src/FbTk/CommandRegistry.cc b/src/FbTk/CommandRegistry.cc
index 1d16c754..fc40920b 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/CommandRegistry.cc
+++ b/src/FbTk/CommandRegistry.cc
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ Command *CommandRegistry::parseLine(const string &line, bool trusted) const {
     // parse args and command
     string command, args;
     StringUtil::getFirstWord(line, command, args);
+    StringUtil::removeFirstWhitespace(args);
+    StringUtil::removeTrailingWhitespace(args);
 
     // now we have parsed command and args
     command = StringUtil::toLower(command);
@@ -63,6 +65,8 @@ BoolCommand *CommandRegistry::parseBoolLine(const string &line, bool trusted) co
     // parse args and command
     string command, args;
     StringUtil::getFirstWord(line, command, args);
+    StringUtil::removeFirstWhitespace(args);
+    StringUtil::removeTrailingWhitespace(args);
 
     // now we have parsed command and args
     command = StringUtil::toLower(command);
diff --git a/src/FbTk/StringUtil.cc b/src/FbTk/StringUtil.cc
index 9b4928bb..1bd9b8da 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/StringUtil.cc
+++ b/src/FbTk/StringUtil.cc
@@ -214,8 +214,7 @@ string basename(const string &filename) {
 
 string::size_type removeFirstWhitespace(string &str) {
     string::size_type first_pos = str.find_first_not_of(" \t");
-    if (first_pos != string::npos)
-        str.erase(0, first_pos);
+    str.erase(0, first_pos);
     return first_pos;
 }
 
@@ -223,13 +222,9 @@ string::size_type removeFirstWhitespace(string &str) {
 string::size_type removeTrailingWhitespace(string &str) {
     // strip trailing whitespace
     string::size_type first_pos = str.find_last_not_of(" \t");
-    if (first_pos != string::npos) {
-        string::size_type last_pos = str.find_first_of(" \t", first_pos);
-        while (last_pos != string::npos) {
-            str.erase(last_pos);
-            last_pos = str.find_first_of(" \t", last_pos);
-        }
-    }
+    string::size_type last_pos = str.find_first_of(" \t", first_pos);
+    if (last_pos != string::npos)
+        str.erase(last_pos);
     return first_pos;
 }
 
@@ -240,8 +235,6 @@ void getFirstWord(const std::string &in, std::string &word, std::string &rest) {
     if (second_pos != string::npos) {
         rest = word.substr(second_pos);
         word.erase(second_pos);
-        removeFirstWhitespace(rest);
-        removeTrailingWhitespace(rest);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/FbTk/StringUtil.hh b/src/FbTk/StringUtil.hh
index 7f0cf54d..d3c131e2 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/StringUtil.hh
+++ b/src/FbTk/StringUtil.hh
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ std::string basename(const std::string &basename);
 std::string::size_type removeFirstWhitespace(std::string &str);
 std::string::size_type removeTrailingWhitespace(std::string &str);
 
-/// removes the first part of a string and returns the two pieces
+/// splits input at first non-leading whitespace and returns both parts
 void getFirstWord(const std::string &in, std::string &first, std::string &rest);
 
 /// Breaks a string into tokens