diff --git a/loopy/transform/iname.py b/loopy/transform/iname.py
index 32e718d51053000a6cc81a9df6e8b492a218d7f4..e72897a0427c9818be26d42cda298f8d4f71bca9 100644
--- a/loopy/transform/iname.py
+++ b/loopy/transform/iname.py
@@ -590,7 +590,9 @@ def tag_inames(kernel, iname_to_tag, force=False, ignore_nonexistent=False):
 
             return (s[:colon_index].strip(), s[colon_index+1:].strip())
 
-        iname_to_tag = [parse_kv(s) for s in iname_to_tag.split(",")]
+        iname_to_tag = [
+                parse_kv(s) for s in iname_to_tag.split(",")
+                if s.strip()]
 
     from loopy.kernel.data import parse_tag as inner_parse_tag