diff --git a/tuned/plugins/plugin_sysctl.py b/tuned/plugins/plugin_sysctl.py
index 84c3077..eddcbf7 100644
--- a/tuned/plugins/plugin_sysctl.py
+++ b/tuned/plugins/plugin_sysctl.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class SysctlPlugin(base.Plugin):
 		ret = True
 		for option, value in instance._sysctl.iteritems():
 			curr_val = self._read_sysctl(option)
-			if self._verify_value(option, value, curr_val) == False:
+			if self._verify_value(option, self._cmd.remove_ws(value), curr_val) == False:
 				ret = False
 		return ret
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class SysctlPlugin(base.Plugin):
 	def _read_sysctl(self, option):
 		retcode, stdout = self._execute_sysctl(["-e", option])
 		if retcode == 0:
-			parts = map(lambda value: re.sub('\s+', ' ', value).strip(), stdout.split("=", 1))
+			parts = map(lambda value: self._cmd.remove_ws(value), stdout.split("=", 1))
 			if len(parts) == 2:
 				option, value = parts
 				return value
diff --git a/tuned/utils/commands.py b/tuned/utils/commands.py
index 0be27f3..ab3bef6 100644
--- a/tuned/utils/commands.py
+++ b/tuned/utils/commands.py
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ class commands:
 		v = str(value).upper().strip()
 		return {"Y":"1", "YES":"1", "T":"1", "TRUE":"1", "N":"0", "NO":"0", "F":"0", "FALSE":"0"}.get(v, value)
 
+	def remove_ws(self, s):
+		return re.sub('\s+', ' ', s).strip()
+
 	def write_to_file(self, f, data):
 		self._debug("Writing to file: %s < %s" % (f, data))
 		try: