diff --git a/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java b/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java
index a2817f7..6895fa0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java
@@ -238,7 +238,14 @@ private static List<String> buildCommandPrefix(Map conf, String childOptsKey)
 
       if (conf.containsKey(childOptsKey)
               && conf.get(childOptsKey) != null) {
-          toRet.add((String) conf.get(childOptsKey));
+          
+          String javaOption = (String) conf.get(childOptsKey);
+          String [] options = javaOption.split("\\s");
+          if (null != options && options.length > 0) {
+              for (String option : options) {
+                  toRet.add(option);
+              }
+          }
       }
 
       return toRet;