diff --git a/src/java/edu/stanford/muse/email/EmailFetcherThread.java b/src/java/edu/stanford/muse/email/EmailFetcherThread.java
index 8a312218..01ff134a 100755
--- a/src/java/edu/stanford/muse/email/EmailFetcherThread.java
+++ b/src/java/edu/stanford/muse/email/EmailFetcherThread.java
@@ -838,6 +838,9 @@ private String handleAttachments(EmailDocument ed,int idx, Message m, Part p, Li
         String filename = null;
         try {
             filename = p.getFileName();
+            if (!filename.trim().isEmpty()) {
+                filename = filename.trim();
+            }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             // seen this happen with:
             // Folders__gmail-sent Message #12185 Expected ';', got "Message"