diff --git a/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js b/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js
index 1b838de541076c1bdd2e8846d816774568413bec..8d773334c314db0367b67449860d50895be3a148 100644
--- a/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js
+++ b/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class PersonSelect extends VPULitElementJQuery {
                 },
                 data: function (params) {
                     return {
-                        search: params.term,
+                        search: params.term.trim(),
                         'library-only': 1
                     };
                 },