diff --git a/lib/rake/application.rb b/lib/rake/application.rb
index 8927d951b..c86cb1fa2 100644
--- a/lib/rake/application.rb
+++ b/lib/rake/application.rb
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def parse_task_string(string) # :nodoc:
       args = []
 
       begin
-        /((?:[^\\,]|\\.)*?)\s*(?:,\s*(.*))?$/ =~ remaining_args
+        /\s*((?:[^\\,]|\\.)*?)\s*(?:,\s*(.*))?$/ =~ remaining_args
 
         remaining_args = $2
         args << $1.gsub(/\\(.)/, '\1')
diff --git a/test/test_rake_task_argument_parsing.rb b/test/test_rake_task_argument_parsing.rb
index fc494a463..fbe0273e7 100644
--- a/test/test_rake_task_argument_parsing.rb
+++ b/test/test_rake_task_argument_parsing.rb
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ def test_two_arguments
     assert_equal ["one", "two"], args
   end
 
-  def test_can_handle_spaces_between_args
-    name, args = @app.parse_task_string("name[one, two,\tthree , \tfour]")
+  def test_can_handle_spaces_between_all_args
+    name, args = @app.parse_task_string("name[ one , two ,\tthree , \tfour ]")
     assert_equal "name", name
     assert_equal ["one", "two", "three", "four"], args
   end