diff --git a/libmwereader/mwereader.cpp b/libmwereader/mwereader.cpp
index f09e5352e74e8f8f040322c9fa5e3060057981f9..4679078b508144e536e301c7d785a6de5e93418b 100644
--- a/libmwereader/mwereader.cpp
+++ b/libmwereader/mwereader.cpp
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ bool MWEReader::registered = TokenReader::register_path_reader<MWEReader>(
 		if(boost::algorithm::starts_with(option, "mwefile:")) {
 
 			std::string mwefile = option.substr(8);
+			boost::algorithm::trim(mwefile);
 			if(boost::filesystem::exists(mwefile))
 				load_mwes(mwefile);
 			else