diff --git a/src/nix/repl.cc b/src/nix/repl.cc
index 916353d8c..1f9d4fb4e 100644
--- a/src/nix/repl.cc
+++ b/src/nix/repl.cc
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ StorePath NixRepl::getDerivationPath(Value & v) {
 
 bool NixRepl::processLine(std::string line)
 {
+    line = trim(line);
     if (line == "") return true;
 
     _isInterrupted = false;