diff --git a/src/etc/mklldeps.py b/src/etc/mklldeps.py
index 7a925fa3f336..d0f91ba683f9 100644
--- a/src/etc/mklldeps.py
+++ b/src/etc/mklldeps.py
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ import subprocess
 
 f = open(sys.argv[1], 'wb')
 
-components = sys.argv[2].split(' ')
-components = [i for i in components if i]  # ignore extra whitespaces
+components = sys.argv[2].split() # splits on whitespace
 enable_static = sys.argv[3]
 llconfig = sys.argv[4]