diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/DecisionEngineTests/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecificationFixture.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/DecisionEngineTests/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecificationFixture.cs
index cdbce8077..ee09defa0 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/DecisionEngineTests/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecificationFixture.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/DecisionEngineTests/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecificationFixture.cs
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Test.DecisionEngineTests
         public void Setup()
         {
             _parseResult = new RemoteEpisode
-                {
-                    Release = new ReleaseInfo
-                        {
-                            Title = "Dexter.S08E01.EDITED.WEBRip.x264-KYR"
-                        }
-                };
+                           {
+                               Release = new ReleaseInfo
+                                         {
+                                             Title = "Dexter.S08E01.EDITED.WEBRip.x264-KYR"
+                                         }
+                           };
         }
 
         [Test]
@@ -49,5 +49,12 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Test.DecisionEngineTests
             Mocker.GetMock<IConfigService>().SetupGet(c => c.ReleaseRestrictions).Returns(restrictions);
             Subject.IsSatisfiedBy(_parseResult, null).Should().BeTrue();
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void should_not_try_to_find_empty_string_as_a_match()
+        {
+            Mocker.GetMock<IConfigService>().SetupGet(c => c.ReleaseRestrictions).Returns("test\n");
+            Subject.IsSatisfiedBy(_parseResult, null).Should().BeTrue();
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigService.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigService.cs
index 4a4bda1f3..3b66cad13 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigService.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Configuration/ConfigService.cs
@@ -231,8 +231,8 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Configuration
 
         public string ReleaseRestrictions
         {
-            get { return GetValue("ReleaseRestrictions", String.Empty); }
-            set { SetValue("ReleaseRestrictions", value); }
+            get { return GetValue("ReleaseRestrictions", String.Empty).Trim('\r', '\n'); }
+            set { SetValue("ReleaseRestrictions", value.Trim('\r', '\n')); }
         }
 
         public Int32 RssSyncInterval
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/DecisionEngine/Specifications/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecification.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/DecisionEngine/Specifications/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecification.cs
index 628b8183e..8cfe45cf3 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/DecisionEngine/Specifications/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecification.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/DecisionEngine/Specifications/NotRestrictedReleaseSpecification.cs
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.DecisionEngine.Specifications
 
             foreach (var restriction in restrictions)
             {
+                if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(restriction)) continue;
+
                 if (subject.Release.Title.ToLowerInvariant().Contains(restriction.ToLowerInvariant()))
                 {
                     _logger.Trace("{0} is restricted: {1}", subject, restriction);