diff --git a/flume-core/src/main/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/FlumeConfiguration.java b/flume-core/src/main/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/FlumeConfiguration.java
index 39ae4fcd..c880d6f3 100644
--- a/flume-core/src/main/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/FlumeConfiguration.java
+++ b/flume-core/src/main/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/FlumeConfiguration.java
@@ -949,7 +949,7 @@ public long getEventMaxSizeBytes() {
   }
 
   public String getPluginClasses() {
-    return get(PLUGIN_CLASSES, "");
+    return get(PLUGIN_CLASSES, "").replaceAll("\\s+", "");
   }
 
   public String getHiveHost() {
diff --git a/flume-core/src/test/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/TestFlumeConfiguration.java b/flume-core/src/test/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/TestFlumeConfiguration.java
index b29440a1..63e81202 100644
--- a/flume-core/src/test/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/TestFlumeConfiguration.java
+++ b/flume-core/src/test/java/com/cloudera/flume/conf/TestFlumeConfiguration.java
@@ -31,6 +31,38 @@ public TestableConfiguration() {
       super(true);
     }
   }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testPluginClassesWithWhiteSpaceAtBeginning() {
+	  FlumeConfiguration cfg = new TestableConfiguration();
+	  cfg.set(FlumeConfiguration.PLUGIN_CLASSES, " \n a.b.c,d.e.f");
+	  
+	  assertEquals("White spaces at the beginning must be stripped", "a.b.c,d.e.f", cfg.getPluginClasses());
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testPluginClassesWithWhiteSpaceAtEnd() {
+	  FlumeConfiguration cfg = new TestableConfiguration();
+	  cfg.set(FlumeConfiguration.PLUGIN_CLASSES, "a.b.c,d.e.f \n ");
+	  
+	  assertEquals("White spaces at the end must be stripped", "a.b.c,d.e.f", cfg.getPluginClasses());
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testPluginClassesWithWhiteSpaceInTheMiddle() {
+	  FlumeConfiguration cfg = new TestableConfiguration();
+	  cfg.set(FlumeConfiguration.PLUGIN_CLASSES, "a.b.c,\nd.e.f,   g.h.i");
+	  
+	  assertEquals("White spaces in the middle must be stripped", "a.b.c,d.e.f,g.h.i", cfg.getPluginClasses());
+  }
+  
+  @Test
+  public void testPluginClassesWithWhiteSpace() {
+	  FlumeConfiguration cfg = new TestableConfiguration();
+	  cfg.set(FlumeConfiguration.PLUGIN_CLASSES, " \n a.b.c,\nd.e.f,   g.h.i \n ");
+	  
+	  assertEquals("White spaces must be stripped", "a.b.c,d.e.f,g.h.i", cfg.getPluginClasses());
+  }
 
   @Test
   public void testParseGossipServers() {