diff --git a/gradle_plugins/src/main/groovy/org/ros/gradle_plugins/CatkinPlugin.groovy b/gradle_plugins/src/main/groovy/org/ros/gradle_plugins/CatkinPlugin.groovy
index 49a4dfbec782813e353d321573c355768d1ab4ff..a24d15492846718feea6ba313bea414a0d2fc09a 100644
--- a/gradle_plugins/src/main/groovy/org/ros/gradle_plugins/CatkinPlugin.groovy
+++ b/gradle_plugins/src/main/groovy/org/ros/gradle_plugins/CatkinPlugin.groovy
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ class CatkinPackages {
         def pkg
         def result = false
         try {
-            pkg = this.pkgs[package_name]
+            pkg = this.pkgs[package_name.replace(" ","")] /* make sure spaces do not interfere */
             /* println("    Name: " + pkg.name + "-" + pkg.version) */
             /* println("    Dep-dependencies: " + pkg.dependencies) */
             pkg.dependencies.each { d ->