diff --git a/siteupdate/python-teresco/siteupdate.py b/siteupdate/python-teresco/siteupdate.py
index 57a0095e..f76628ec 100755
--- a/siteupdate/python-teresco/siteupdate.py
+++ b/siteupdate/python-teresco/siteupdate.py
@@ -1228,7 +1228,7 @@ def __init__(self,travelername,route_hash,el,path="../../../UserData/list_files"
         self.log_entries = []
 
         for line in lines:
-            line = line.rstrip('\x00').strip()
+            line = line.strip(" \t\r\n\x00")
             # ignore empty or "comment" lines
             if len(line) == 0 or line.startswith("#"):
                 continue