diff --git a/collectoss/tasks/github/util/github_api_key_handler.py b/collectoss/tasks/github/util/github_api_key_handler.py
index 5cabe1fab..ed809b834 100644
--- a/collectoss/tasks/github/util/github_api_key_handler.py
+++ b/collectoss/tasks/github/util/github_api_key_handler.py
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ def __init__(self, logger):
         self.redis_key_list = RedisList(self.oauth_redis_key)
 
         self.config_key = self.get_config_key()
+        if self.config_key:
+            stripped_config_key = self.config_key.strip()
+            if stripped_config_key and stripped_config_key != self.config_key:
+                self.logger.warning("GitHub API key in config had leading or trailing whitespace. It was stripped.")
+            self.config_key = stripped_config_key
 
         self.keys = self.get_api_keys()
 
@@ -102,8 +107,10 @@ def get_api_keys(self) -> List[str]:
                 time.sleep(5)
                 attempts += 1
 
-        if self.config_key is not None:
+        if self.config_key:
             keys += [self.config_key]
+        elif self.config_key is not None: # None means it was never set
+            self.logger.warning("GitHub API key is an empty string. Please, add a valid one.")
 
         if len(keys) == 0:
             return []
diff --git a/tests/test_classes/test_github_api_keys.py b/tests/test_classes/test_github_api_keys.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e7821a624
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_classes/test_github_api_keys.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+import pytest
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+from collectoss.tasks.github.util.github_api_key_handler import GithubApiKeyHandler
+
+
+github_whitespace_api_keys_list = ["", "    "]
+github_none_api_key = None
+github_valid_api_key = "ghp_1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678"
+github_valid_db_api_key = "ghp_abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12"
+
+def build_handler(config_key, db_keys):
+    logger = Mock()
+
+    with patch("collectoss.tasks.github.util.github_api_key_handler.RedisList"), \
+         patch.object(GithubApiKeyHandler, "get_config_key", return_value=config_key), \
+         patch.object(GithubApiKeyHandler, "get_api_keys_from_database", return_value=db_keys), \
+         patch.object(GithubApiKeyHandler, "is_bad_api_key", return_value=False) as mock_is_bad_api_key:
+        handler = GithubApiKeyHandler(logger)
+
+    return handler, mock_is_bad_api_key, logger
+
+@pytest.mark.unit
+class TestConfigKeys:
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("github_whitespace_api_key", github_whitespace_api_keys_list)
+    def test_whitespace_config_key_with_no_db_keys(self, github_whitespace_api_key):
+        db_keys = []
+        handler, mock_is_bad_api_key, logger = build_handler(github_whitespace_api_key, db_keys)
+
+        assert handler.keys == []
+        assert mock_is_bad_api_key.call_count == 0
+        # with no keys left, get_api_keys returns before it reaches redis
+        handler.redis_key_list.clear.assert_not_called()
+        handler.redis_key_list.extend.assert_not_called()
+        logger.warning.assert_called_once()
+
+    def test_none_config_key_with_no_db_keys(self):
+        db_keys = []
+        handler, mock_is_bad_api_key, logger = build_handler(github_none_api_key, db_keys)
+
+        assert handler.keys == []
+        assert mock_is_bad_api_key.call_count == 0
+        handler.redis_key_list.clear.assert_not_called()
+        handler.redis_key_list.extend.assert_not_called()
+        logger.warning.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_valid_config_key_with_no_db_keys(self):
+        db_keys = []
+        handler, mock_is_bad_api_key, logger = build_handler(github_valid_api_key, db_keys)
+
+        assert handler.keys == [github_valid_api_key]
+        assert mock_is_bad_api_key.call_count == 1
+        handler.redis_key_list.extend.assert_called_once_with([github_valid_api_key])
+        logger.warning.assert_not_called()
+
+    def test_padded_config_key_is_stripped(self):
+        db_keys = []
+        handler, mock_is_bad_api_key, logger = build_handler(f" {github_valid_api_key}\n", db_keys)
+
+        assert handler.keys == [github_valid_api_key]
+        assert mock_is_bad_api_key.call_count == 1
+        handler.redis_key_list.extend.assert_called_once_with([github_valid_api_key])
+        logger.warning.assert_called_once()
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("github_whitespace_api_key", github_whitespace_api_keys_list)
+    def test_whitespace_config_key_with_db_keys(self, github_whitespace_api_key):
+        expected_keys = [github_valid_db_api_key]
+        # get_api_keys appends to the list it gets back, so hand it a copy
+        handler, mock_is_bad_api_key, logger = build_handler(github_whitespace_api_key, list(expected_keys))
+
+        assert handler.keys == expected_keys
+        assert mock_is_bad_api_key.call_count == 1
+        handler.redis_key_list.extend.assert_called_once_with(expected_keys)
+        logger.warning.assert_called_once()