diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/worker/CommandUtils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/worker/CommandUtils.scala
index d8b8aa9a330c4..fe1cd64511ccc 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/worker/CommandUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/worker/CommandUtils.scala
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ object CommandUtils extends Logging {
     // Note, this will coalesce multiple options into a single command component
     val extraOpts = command.extraJavaOptions match {
       case Some(opts) =>
-        opts.split(" ").toSeq
+        opts.split("\\s+").toSeq
       case _ =>
         Seq()
     }