diff --git a/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp b/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp
index 37b9d157e..adb3039d5 100644
--- a/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/core/impl/Config.cpp
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ parseIniFile (std::string const& strInput, const bool bTrim)
     // Parse each line.
     for (auto& strValue : vLines)
     {
+        if (bTrim)
+            boost::algorithm::trim (strValue);
+
         if (strValue.empty () || strValue[0] == '#')
         {
             // Blank line or comment, do nothing.
@@ -82,9 +85,6 @@ parseIniFile (std::string const& strInput, const bool bTrim)
         else
         {
             // Another line for Section.
-            if (bTrim)
-                boost::algorithm::trim (strValue);
-
             if (!strValue.empty ())
                 secResult[strSection].push_back (strValue);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp b/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp
index 62e8e198d..92a271f24 100644
--- a/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/core/Config_test.cpp
@@ -751,6 +751,42 @@ trustthesevalidators.gov
         BEAST_EXPECT(wss.admin_ip && (wss.admin_ip .get().size() == 1));
     }
 
+    void testWhitespace()
+    {
+        Config cfg;
+        /* NOTE: this string includes some explicit
+         * space chars in order to verify proper trimming */
+        std::string toLoad(R"(
+[port_rpc])" "\x20" R"(
+# comment
+    # indented comment
+)" "\x20\x20" R"(
+[ips])" "\x20" R"(
+r.ripple.com 51235
+
+  [ips_fixed])" "\x20\x20" R"(
+    # COMMENT
+    s1.ripple.com 51235
+    s2.ripple.com 51235
+
+)");
+        cfg.loadFromString (toLoad);
+        BEAST_EXPECT (
+            cfg.exists ("port_rpc") &&
+            cfg.section ("port_rpc").lines ().empty () &&
+            cfg.section ("port_rpc").values ().empty ());
+        BEAST_EXPECT (
+            cfg.exists (SECTION_IPS) &&
+            cfg.section (SECTION_IPS).lines ().size () == 1 &&
+            cfg.section (SECTION_IPS).values ().size () == 1);
+        BEAST_EXPECT (
+            cfg.exists (SECTION_IPS_FIXED) &&
+            cfg.section (SECTION_IPS_FIXED).lines ().size () == 2 &&
+            cfg.section (SECTION_IPS_FIXED).values ().size () == 2);
+
+    }
+
+
     void run () override
     {
         testLegacy ();
@@ -760,6 +796,7 @@ trustthesevalidators.gov
         testSetup (false);
         testSetup (true);
         testPort ();
+        testWhitespace ();
     }
 };