diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ImmutableSettings.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ImmutableSettings.java
index ec77b1cd3e8..f2c0073775f 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ImmutableSettings.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/settings/ImmutableSettings.java
@@ -235,7 +235,10 @@ public class ImmutableSettings implements Settings {
         List<String> result = Lists.newArrayList();
 
         if (get(settingPrefix) != null) {
-            Collections.addAll(result, Strings.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(get(settingPrefix)));
+            String[] strings = Strings.splitStringByCommaToArray(get(settingPrefix));
+            if (strings.length > 0) {
+                Collections.addAll(result, strings);
+            }
         }
 
         int counter = 0;
diff --git a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ping/unicast/UnicastZenPing.java b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ping/unicast/UnicastZenPing.java
index 6acfadc308b..38ca638480f 100644
--- a/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ping/unicast/UnicastZenPing.java
+++ b/modules/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/discovery/zen/ping/unicast/UnicastZenPing.java
@@ -100,7 +100,12 @@ public class UnicastZenPing extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<ZenPing> implemen
         this.transportService = transportService;
         this.clusterName = clusterName;
 
-        List<String> hosts = Lists.newArrayList(componentSettings.getAsArray("hosts"));
+        String[] hostArr = componentSettings.getAsArray("hosts");
+        // trim the hosts
+        for (int i = 0; i < hostArr.length; i++) {
+            hostArr[i] = hostArr[i].trim();
+        }
+        List<String> hosts = Lists.newArrayList(hostArr);
         logger.debug("using initial hosts {}", hosts);
 
         List<DiscoveryNode> nodes = Lists.newArrayList();