diff --git a/simuleval/evaluator/instance.py b/simuleval/evaluator/instance.py
index 9f33466..6b5c74c 100644
--- a/simuleval/evaluator/instance.py
+++ b/simuleval/evaluator/instance.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def __init__(
         self.dataloader = dataloader
         if self.dataloader is not None:
             self.source = self.dataloader[self.index]["source"]
-            self.reference = self.dataloader[self.index]["target"]
+            self.reference = self.dataloader[self.index]["target"].strip()
             self.tgt_lang = self.dataloader[self.index]["tgt_lang"]
 
         self.reset()