diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index fb6dadf..f9f2ba0 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ repos:
     rev: v5.0.0
     hooks:
     -   id: trailing-whitespace
+        exclude: ^integration-tests/jbang/EmptyPIPComments\.j$
     -   id: end-of-file-fixer
     -   id: check-yaml
     -   id: check-added-large-files
diff --git a/integration-tests/jbang/EmptyPIPComments.j b/integration-tests/jbang/EmptyPIPComments.j
index ab500f1..5c288f2 100644
--- a/integration-tests/jbang/EmptyPIPComments.j
+++ b/integration-tests/jbang/EmptyPIPComments.j
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 //DEPS org.graalvm.python:jbang:${env.GRAALPY_VERSION:26.0.0}
 //PIP
 // one blank after PIP
-//PIP
+//PIP 
 // three blanks after PIP
-//PIP
+//PIP   
 
 public class EmptyPIPComments {
     public static void main(String[] args) {
diff --git a/integration-tests/test_jbang_integration.py b/integration-tests/test_jbang_integration.py
index a24c2ef..c6e87c0 100644
--- a/integration-tests/test_jbang_integration.py
+++ b/integration-tests/test_jbang_integration.py
@@ -317,6 +317,7 @@ def check_empty_comments(self, work_dir, java_file, log):
         self.assertEqual(0, result, f"command: {command}\n    stdout: {out}")
         self.assertNotIn("[graalpy jbang integration]", out)
 
+    @unittest.skip # https://github.com/jbangdev/jbang/issues/2236
     def test_malformed_tag_formats(self):
         jbang_templates_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "jbang")
         work_dir = self.tmpdir
diff --git a/org.graalvm.python.jbang/src/main/java/org/graalvm/python/jbang/JBangIntegration.java b/org.graalvm.python.jbang/src/main/java/org/graalvm/python/jbang/JBangIntegration.java
index fe874b8..a001668 100644
--- a/org.graalvm.python.jbang/src/main/java/org/graalvm/python/jbang/JBangIntegration.java
+++ b/org.graalvm.python.jbang/src/main/java/org/graalvm/python/jbang/JBangIntegration.java
@@ -180,8 +180,11 @@ public static Map<String, Object> postBuild(Path temporaryJar, Path pomFile,
 					resourcesDirectory = Path.of(path);
 				}
 			} else if (comment.startsWith(PIP)) {
-				pkgs.addAll(Arrays.stream(comment.substring(PIP.length()).trim().split(" "))
-						.filter(s -> !s.trim().isEmpty()).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+				String content = comment.substring(PIP.length()).trim();
+				if (!content.isEmpty()) {
+					pkgs.addAll(Arrays.stream(content.split("\\s+")).filter(x -> !x.isBlank())
+							.collect(Collectors.toList()));
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		if (!pkgs.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 43d3eaa..78d3321 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -173,9 +173,9 @@
           <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
           <version>3.14.0</version>
           <configuration>
-            <source>21</source>
-            <target>21</target>
-            <release>21</release>
+            <source>17</source>
+            <target>17</target>
+            <release>17</release>
             <compilerArgs>
               <arg>-Xlint:all</arg>
               <arg>-Werror</arg>