diff --git a/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str.go b/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str.go
index 23ad0612c3e..ec10caeff1c 100644
--- a/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str.go
+++ b/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str.go
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ func validateMultiStrEnum(flagName string) error {
 		caseInsensitiveMap[strings.ToLower(key)] = value
 	}
 	for _, enum := range enums {
+		enum = strings.TrimSpace(enum)
 		if _, ok := caseInsensitiveMap[strings.ToLower(enum)]; enum != "" && !ok {
 			invalidEnum = append(invalidEnum, enum)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str_test.go b/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str_test.go
index b3cde89d23f..6f409b1266a 100644
--- a/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str_test.go
+++ b/internal/console/flags/validate_multi_str_test.go
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ func TestFlags_validateMultiStrEnum(t *testing.T) {
 			flagValue: &[]string{"Ansible", "Terrraform"},
 			wantErr:   true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:      "should execute fine when values have leading or trailing spaces",
+			flagName:  "exclude-categories",
+			flagValue: &[]string{"Ansible ", "  Terraform  "},
+			wantErr:   true,
+		},
 	}
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		flagsMultiStrReferences[test.flagName] = test.flagValue