diff --git a/include/stringop.h b/include/stringop.h
index 03387345..a5346829 100644
--- a/include/stringop.h
+++ b/include/stringop.h
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 #define _SWAY_STRINGOP_H
 #include "list.h"
 
-void strip_whitespace(char *str);
-void strip_comments(char *str);
+char *strip_whitespace(char *str, int *trimmed_start);
+char *strip_comments(char *str);
 list_t *split_string(const char *str, const char *delims);
 void free_flat_list(list_t *list);
 char *code_strchr(const char *string, char delimiter);
diff --git a/sway/commands.c b/sway/commands.c
index 51de7a50..ae0bdbe4 100644
--- a/sway/commands.c
+++ b/sway/commands.c
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ static char **split_directive(char *line, int *argc) {
 	if (!*line) return parts;
 
 	int in_string = 0, in_character = 0;
-	int i, j;
+	int i, j, _;
 	for (i = 0, j = 0; line[i]; ++i) {
 		if (line[i] == '\\') {
 			++i;
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ static char **split_directive(char *line, int *argc) {
 				char *item = malloc(i - j + 1);
 				strncpy(item, line + j, i - j);
 				item[i - j] = '\0';
-				strip_whitespace(item);
+				item = strip_whitespace(item, &_);
 				if (item[0] == '\0') {
 					free(item);
 				} else {
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ static char **split_directive(char *line, int *argc) {
 	char *item = malloc(i - j + 1);
 	strncpy(item, line + j, i - j);
 	item[i - j] = '\0';
-	strip_whitespace(item);
+	item = strip_whitespace(item, &_);
 	if (*argc == capacity) {
 		capacity++;
 		parts = realloc(parts, sizeof(char *) * capacity);
diff --git a/sway/config.c b/sway/config.c
index 6d39839d..f1de6080 100644
--- a/sway/config.c
+++ b/sway/config.c
@@ -186,9 +186,10 @@ bool read_config(FILE *file, bool is_active) {
 	int temp_depth = 0; // Temporary: skip all config sections with depth
 
 	while (!feof(file)) {
+		int _;
 		char *line = read_line(file);
-		strip_comments(line);
-		strip_whitespace(line);
+		line = strip_comments(line);
+		line = strip_whitespace(line, &_);
 		if (!line[0]) {
 			goto _continue;
 		}
diff --git a/sway/stringop.c b/sway/stringop.c
index 624c8401..1dff97bf 100644
--- a/sway/stringop.c
+++ b/sway/stringop.c
@@ -1,38 +1,37 @@
+#include "stringop.h"
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
-#include <strings.h>
-#include <ctype.h>
-#include "stringop.h"
 #include "string.h"
 #include "list.h"
+#include <strings.h>
 
 /* Note: This returns 8 characters for trimmed_start per tab character. */
-void strip_whitespace(char *str) {
-	int shift = 0;
-	int bpair = 1;
-	int in_str = 0, in_ch = 0;
-	while (*str) {
-		str[-shift] = str[0];
-		if (*str == '"' && !in_ch) {
-			in_str = !in_str;
-		} else if (*str == '\'' && !in_str) {
-			in_ch = !in_ch;
-		} else if (!in_ch && !in_str) {
-			if (isblank(*str)) {
-				if (bpair) {
-					++shift;
-				}
-				bpair=1;
-			} else {
-				bpair = 0;
-			}
+char *strip_whitespace(char *_str, int *trimmed_start) {
+	*trimmed_start = 0;
+	if (*_str == '\0')
+		return _str;
+	char *strold = _str;
+	while (*_str == ' ' || *_str == '\t') {
+		if (*_str == '\t') {
+			*trimmed_start += 8;
+		} else {
+			*trimmed_start += 1;
 		}
-		++str;
+		_str++;
 	}
-	str[-shift-bpair] = 0;
+	char *str = malloc(strlen(_str) + 1);
+	strcpy(str, _str);
+	free(strold);
+	int i;
+	for (i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; ++i);
+	do {
+		i--;
+	} while (i >= 0 && (str[i] == ' ' || str[i] == '\t'));
+	str[i + 1] = '\0';
+	return str;
 }
 
-void strip_comments(char *str) {
+char *strip_comments(char *str) {
 	int in_string = 0, in_character = 0;
 	int i = 0;
 	while (str[i] != '\0') {
@@ -48,6 +47,7 @@ void strip_comments(char *str) {
 		}
 		++i;
 	}
+	return str;
 }
 
 list_t *split_string(const char *str, const char *delims) {