diff --git a/evennia/locks/lockhandler.py b/evennia/locks/lockhandler.py
index 0f96b1d6a7..19e0617bf0 100644
--- a/evennia/locks/lockhandler.py
+++ b/evennia/locks/lockhandler.py
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class LockHandler(object):
                     elist.append(_("Lock: lock-function '%s' is not available.") % funcstring)
                     continue
                 args = list(arg.strip() for arg in rest.split(",") if arg and "=" not in arg)
-                kwargs = dict([arg.split("=", 1) for arg in rest.split(",") if arg and "=" in arg])
+                kwargs = dict([(part.strip() for part in arg.split("=", 1)) for arg in rest.split(",") if arg and "=" in arg])
                 lock_funcs.append((func, args, kwargs))
                 evalstring = evalstring.replace(funcstring, "%s")
             if len(lock_funcs) < nfuncs: