diff --git a/.scripts/actions/get_build_arguments.sh b/.scripts/actions/get_build_arguments.sh
index 635be6c..3bd901b 100755
--- a/.scripts/actions/get_build_arguments.sh
+++ b/.scripts/actions/get_build_arguments.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 # Splits comma-separated values, prepends them with --build-arg, and prints
-# them out separated by newlines.
-echo "$1" | awk '{ split($0, args, ","); for (i in args) { printf "--build-arg \"%s\" ", args[i] }}'
+# them out. Variable values MUST mot contain any whitespace as following commands
+# will break.
+echo "$1" | awk '{ split($0, args, ","); for (i in args) { printf "--build-arg %s ", args[i] }}'
diff --git a/build-container-image/README.md b/build-container-image/README.md
index 95cb4c8..d409d2d 100644
--- a/build-container-image/README.md
+++ b/build-container-image/README.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ All subsequent tasks must use this value to ensure consistency.
 - `image-index-manifest-tag` (required, eg: `3.4.1-stackable0.0.0-dev`)
 - `container-file` (defaults to `Dockerfile`)
 - `build-context` (defaults to `.`)
-- `build-arguments`
+- `build-arguments`: MUST not contain any whitespace
 
 ### Outputs
 
diff --git a/build-container-image/action.yaml b/build-container-image/action.yaml
index 34a5908..9816d67 100644
--- a/build-container-image/action.yaml
+++ b/build-container-image/action.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ inputs:
     default: .
   build-arguments:
     description: |
-      A comma-separated list of KEY=VALUE pairs provided as build arguments
+      A comma-separated list of KEY=VALUE pairs provided as build arguments.
+      MUST not contain any whitespace.
 outputs:
   image-repository-uri:
     description: |
@@ -53,6 +54,12 @@ runs:
       run: |
         set -euo pipefail
 
+        # Validate that the build arguments input doesn't contain any whitespaces
+        if echo "$BUILD_ARGUMENTS" | grep '[[:space:]]'; then
+          >&2 echo "Build arguments MUST not contain any whitespace."
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
         DOCKER_BUILD_ARGUMENTS=$("$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/../.scripts/actions/get_build_arguments.sh" "$BUILD_ARGUMENTS")
 
         IMAGE_ARCH=$("$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/../.scripts/actions/get_architecture.sh")
@@ -75,7 +82,7 @@ runs:
           --tag "${IMAGE_MANIFEST_URI}" \
           --load \
           $DOCKER_BUILD_ARGUMENTS \
-          "${BUILD_CONTEXT}"
+          "$BUILD_CONTEXT"
         echo "::endgroup::"
 
         echo "::group::docker images"