diff --git a/libnm-core/nm-utils.c b/libnm-core/nm-utils.c
index 2cc6ed3955..ac30304596 100644
--- a/libnm-core/nm-utils.c
+++ b/libnm-core/nm-utils.c
@@ -4017,14 +4017,16 @@ gboolean nm_utils_enum_from_str (GType type, const char *str,
 	GTypeClass *class;
 	gboolean ret = FALSE;
 	int value = 0;
+	gs_free char *stripped = NULL;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (str, FALSE);
+	stripped = g_strstrip (strdup (str));
 	class = g_type_class_ref (type);
 
 	if (G_IS_ENUM_CLASS (class)) {
 		GEnumValue *enum_value;
 
-		enum_value = g_enum_get_value_by_nick (G_ENUM_CLASS (class), str);
+		enum_value = g_enum_get_value_by_nick (G_ENUM_CLASS (class), stripped);
 		if (enum_value) {
 			value = enum_value->value;
 			ret = TRUE;
@@ -4034,7 +4036,7 @@ gboolean nm_utils_enum_from_str (GType type, const char *str,
 		gs_strfreev char **strv = NULL;
 		int i;
 
-		strv = g_strsplit (str, ",", 0);
+		strv = g_strsplit (stripped, ",", 0);
 		for (i = 0; strv[i]; i++) {
 			if (!strv[i][0])
 				continue;
diff --git a/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c b/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
index dfe591298e..a033b9cbc2 100644
--- a/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
+++ b/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
@@ -4688,12 +4688,14 @@ static void test_nm_utils_enum (void)
 	                                           NM_TEST_GENERAL_COLOR_FLAGS_GREEN, "red,green");
 
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (bool_enum, "", FALSE, 0, NULL);
+	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (bool_enum, " ", FALSE, 0, NULL);
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (bool_enum, "invalid", FALSE, 0, NULL);
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (bool_enum, "yes", TRUE, NM_TEST_GENERAL_BOOL_ENUM_YES, NULL);
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (bool_enum, "no", TRUE, NM_TEST_GENERAL_BOOL_ENUM_NO, NULL);
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (bool_enum, "yes,no", FALSE, 0, NULL);
 
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (meta_flags, "", TRUE, 0, NULL);
+	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (meta_flags, " ", TRUE, 0, NULL);
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (meta_flags, "foo", TRUE, NM_TEST_GENERAL_META_FLAGS_FOO, NULL);
 	test_nm_utils_enum_from_str_do (meta_flags, "foo,baz", TRUE, NM_TEST_GENERAL_META_FLAGS_FOO |
 	                                                             NM_TEST_GENERAL_META_FLAGS_BAZ, NULL);