diff --git a/bin/stow.in b/bin/stow.in
index 1ebc695..ec83f59 100755
--- a/bin/stow.in
+++ b/bin/stow.in
@@ -537,11 +537,7 @@ sub process_options {
 sub sanitize_path_options {
     my ($options) = @_;
 
-    if (exists $options->{dir}) {
-        $options->{dir}    =~ s/\A +//;
-        $options->{dir}    =~ s/ +\z//;
-    }
-    else {
+    unless (exists $options->{dir}) {
         $options->{dir} = length $ENV{STOW_DIR} ? $ENV{STOW_DIR} : getcwd();
     }
 
@@ -549,8 +545,6 @@ sub sanitize_path_options {
         unless -d $options->{dir};
 
     if (exists $options->{target}) {
-        $options->{target} =~ s/\A +//;
-        $options->{target} =~ s/ +\z//;
         usage("--target value '$options->{target}' is not a valid directory")
             unless -d $options->{target};
     }
diff --git a/t/cli_options.t b/t/cli_options.t
index 809cf15..fafb6d8 100755
--- a/t/cli_options.t
+++ b/t/cli_options.t
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ init_test_dirs();
 
 local @ARGV = (
     '-v',
-    "-d $OUT_DIR/stow",
-    "-t $OUT_DIR/target",
+    '-d', "$OUT_DIR/stow",
+    '-t', "$OUT_DIR/target",
     'dummy'
 );