diff --git a/src/template.pest b/src/template.pest
index 70b8d1ac8..abd231e9f 100644
--- a/src/template.pest
+++ b/src/template.pest
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ identifier = @{ (ASCII_ALPHANUMERIC | "_")+ }
 function = { identifier ~ "(" ~ function_arguments ~ ")" }
 function_arguments = {
   template ~ ("," ~ template)*
+  | whitespace*
 }
 
 maybe_method = { ("." ~ function)* }
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ list = _{
 }
 
 template = {
-  whitespace* ~ (list | term | "") ~ whitespace*
+  whitespace* ~ (list | term) ~ whitespace*
 }
 
-program = _{ SOI ~ template ~ EOI }
+program = _{ SOI ~ (template | whitespace*) ~ EOI }
diff --git a/src/template_parser.rs b/src/template_parser.rs
index a396c66f7..a2c8a89ab 100644
--- a/src/template_parser.rs
+++ b/src/template_parser.rs
@@ -369,10 +369,10 @@ fn parse_commit_template_rule<'a>(
     let mut templates = inner
         .map(|term| parse_commit_term(repo, workspace_id, term))
         .collect_vec();
-    match templates.len() {
-        0 => Box::new(Literal(String::new())),
-        1 => templates.pop().unwrap(),
-        _ => Box::new(ListTemplate(templates)),
+    if templates.len() == 1 {
+        templates.pop().unwrap()
+    } else {
+        Box::new(ListTemplate(templates))
     }
 }
 
@@ -383,5 +383,9 @@ pub fn parse_commit_template<'a>(
 ) -> Box<dyn Template<Commit> + 'a> {
     let mut pairs: Pairs<Rule> = TemplateParser::parse(Rule::program, template_text).unwrap();
     let first_pair = pairs.next().unwrap();
-    parse_commit_template_rule(repo, workspace_id, first_pair)
+    if first_pair.as_rule() == Rule::EOI {
+        Box::new(Literal(String::new()))
+    } else {
+        parse_commit_template_rule(repo, workspace_id, first_pair)
+    }
 }