diff --git a/src/org/labkey/test/util/data/TestDataUtils.java b/src/org/labkey/test/util/data/TestDataUtils.java
index b7ed252c1a..000526aaea 100644
--- a/src/org/labkey/test/util/data/TestDataUtils.java
+++ b/src/org/labkey/test/util/data/TestDataUtils.java
@@ -578,17 +578,16 @@ public static List<List<String>> readRowsFromFile(File file, CSVFormat format) t
         }
     }
 
-    public static List<String> parseMultiValueText(String multiValueString) throws IOException
+    public static String parseMultiValueText(String multiValueString) throws IOException
     {
         CSVFormat format = CSVFormat.RFC4180.builder()
-                .setIgnoreSurroundingSpaces(true).get();
+                .setIgnoreSurroundingSpaces(true).setTrim(true).get();
         try (CSVParser parser = format.parse(new StringReader(multiValueString)))
         {
             List<CSVRecord> records = parser.getRecords();
-            List<List<String>> list = records.stream().map(CSVRecord::toList).toList();
-            if (list.size() != 1)
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid multi-value text string: " + multiValueString);
-            return list.getFirst();
+            if (records.isEmpty())
+                return "";
+            return records.getFirst().stream().collect(Collectors.joining(multiValueString.contains(", ") ? ", " : ","));
         }
     }