diff --git a/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java b/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java
index a2817f7..da575db 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/yahoo/storm/yarn/Util.java
@@ -238,7 +238,10 @@ private static List<String> buildCommandPrefix(Map conf, String childOptsKey)
 
       if (conf.containsKey(childOptsKey)
               && conf.get(childOptsKey) != null) {
-          toRet.add((String) conf.get(childOptsKey));
+          String childOptsStr = (String) conf.get(childOptsKey);
+          for (String str : childOptsStr.trim().replaceAll("\\s+", ",").split(",")) {
+               toRet.add(str);
+          }
       }
 
       return toRet;