diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/fe-ignore.c b/src/fe-common/core/fe-ignore.c
index 1a7382f9..23a942c9 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/fe-ignore.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/fe-ignore.c
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static void cmd_ignore(const char *data)
 		mask = NULL;
 	}
 	channels = (chanarg == NULL || *chanarg == '\0') ? NULL :
-		g_strsplit(replace_chars(chanarg, ',', ' '), " ", -1);
+		g_strsplit(chanarg, ",", -1);
 
 	rec = patternarg != NULL ? NULL: ignore_find(NULL, mask, channels);
 	new_ignore = rec == NULL;
diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c b/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c
index d3cc7074..1f3bb4ce 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/hilight-text.c
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ static void cmd_hilight(const char *data)
 	if (*text == '\0') cmd_param_error(CMDERR_NOT_ENOUGH_PARAMS);
 
 	channels = (chanarg == NULL || *chanarg == '\0') ? NULL :
-		g_strsplit(replace_chars(chanarg, ',', ' '), " ", -1);
+		g_strsplit(chanarg, ",", -1);
 
 	rec = hilight_find(text, channels);
 	if (rec == NULL) {