diff --git a/frontend/src/Components/Form/TextTagInputConnector.js b/frontend/src/Components/Form/TextTagInputConnector.js
index 17677a51e..be5abb16e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Components/Form/TextTagInputConnector.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Components/Form/TextTagInputConnector.js
@@ -49,7 +49,11 @@ class TextTagInputConnector extends Component {
     const newTags = tag.name.startsWith('/') ? [tag.name] : split(tag.name);
 
     newTags.forEach((newTag) => {
-      newValue.push(newTag.trim());
+      const newTagValue = newTag.trim();
+
+      if (newTagValue) {
+        newValue.push(newTagValue);
+      }
     });
 
     onChange({ name, value: newValue });
@@ -80,7 +84,12 @@ class TextTagInputConnector extends Component {
 
     const newValue = [...valueArray];
     newValue.splice(tagToReplace.index, 1);
-    newValue.push(newTag.name.trim());
+
+    const newTagValue = newTag.name.trim();
+
+    if (newTagValue) {
+      newValue.push(newTagValue);
+    }
 
     onChange({ name, value: newValue });
   };
diff --git a/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileController.cs b/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileController.cs
index 6a54fe620..72aa81201 100644
--- a/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileController.cs
+++ b/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileController.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
 using FluentValidation;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
 using NzbDrone.Common.Extensions;
@@ -23,9 +24,19 @@ public ReleaseProfileController(IReleaseProfileService profileService, IIndexerF
 
             SharedValidator.RuleFor(d => d).Custom((restriction, context) =>
             {
-                if (restriction.MapIgnored().Empty() && restriction.MapRequired().Empty())
+                if (restriction.MapRequired().Empty() && restriction.MapIgnored().Empty())
                 {
-                    context.AddFailure("'Must contain' or 'Must not contain' is required");
+                    context.AddFailure(nameof(ReleaseProfile.Required), "'Must contain' or 'Must not contain' is required");
+                }
+
+                if (restriction.MapRequired().Any(t => t.IsNullOrWhiteSpace()))
+                {
+                    context.AddFailure(nameof(ReleaseProfile.Required), "'Must contain' should not contain whitespaces or an empty string");
+                }
+
+                if (restriction.MapIgnored().Any(t => t.IsNullOrWhiteSpace()))
+                {
+                    context.AddFailure(nameof(ReleaseProfile.Ignored), "'Must not contain' should not contain whitespaces or an empty string");
                 }
 
                 if (restriction.Enabled && restriction.IndexerId != 0 && !_indexerFactory.Exists(restriction.IndexerId))
diff --git a/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileResource.cs b/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileResource.cs
index beb10323f..54b49ba73 100644
--- a/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileResource.cs
+++ b/src/Radarr.Api.V3/Profiles/Release/ReleaseProfileResource.cs
@@ -88,18 +88,18 @@ private static List<string> ParseArray(object resource, string title)
             {
                 if (array.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.String)
                 {
-                    return array.GetString().Split(new[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
+                    return array.GetString().Split(new[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.TrimEntries | StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
                 }
 
                 if (array.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.Array)
                 {
-                    return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<List<string>>(array);
+                    return array.Deserialize<List<string>>();
                 }
             }
 
             if (resource is string str)
             {
-                return str.Split(new[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
+                return str.Split(new[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.TrimEntries | StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).ToList();
             }
 
             throw new BadRequestException($"Invalid field {title}, should be string or string array");