diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/ArrayIndexOperation.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/ArrayIndexOperation.java
index 0fd833a0..8fde93a9 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/ArrayIndexOperation.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/ArrayIndexOperation.java
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@ import com.jayway.jsonpath.internal.Utils;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import static java.lang.Character.isDigit;
 
 public class ArrayIndexOperation {
 
+    private final static Pattern COMMA = Pattern.compile("\\s*,\\s*");
+
     private final List<Integer> indexes;
 
     private ArrayIndexOperation(List<Integer> indexes) {
@@ -39,13 +42,13 @@ public class ArrayIndexOperation {
         //check valid chars
         for (int i = 0; i < operation.length(); i++) {
             char c = operation.charAt(i);
-            if (!isDigit(c) && c != ',') {
+            if (!isDigit(c) && c != ',' && c != ' ') {
                 throw new InvalidPathException("Failed to parse ArrayIndexOperation: " + operation);
             }
         }
-        String[] tokens = operation.split(",");
+        String[] tokens = COMMA.split(operation, -1);
 
-        List<Integer> tempIndexes = new ArrayList<Integer>();
+        List<Integer> tempIndexes = new ArrayList<Integer>(tokens.length);
         for (String token : tokens) {
             tempIndexes.add(parseInteger(token));
         }
diff --git a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java
index b8039b9f..4d003dc7 100644
--- a/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java
+++ b/json-path/src/main/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/internal/path/PathCompiler.java
@@ -512,7 +512,7 @@ public class PathCompiler {
             return false;
         }
 
-        String expression = path.subSequence(expressionBeginIndex, expressionEndIndex).toString().replace(" ", "");
+        String expression = path.subSequence(expressionBeginIndex, expressionEndIndex).toString().trim();
 
         if ("*".equals(expression)) {
             return false;
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ public class PathCompiler {
         //check valid chars
         for (int i = 0; i < expression.length(); i++) {
             char c = expression.charAt(i);
-            if (!isDigit(c) && c != COMMA && c != MINUS && c != SPLIT) {
+            if (!isDigit(c) && c != COMMA && c != MINUS && c != SPLIT && c != SPACE) {
                 return false;
             }
         }
@@ -560,6 +560,7 @@ public class PathCompiler {
         int endPosition = 0;
         boolean inProperty = false;
         boolean inEscape = false;
+        boolean lastSignificantWasComma = false;
 
         while (path.inBounds(readPosition)) {
             char c = path.charAt(readPosition);
@@ -569,6 +570,9 @@ public class PathCompiler {
             } else if('\\' == c){
                 inEscape = true;
             } else if (c == CLOSE_SQUARE_BRACKET && !inProperty) {
+                if (lastSignificantWasComma){
+                  fail("Found empty property at index "+readPosition);
+                }
                 break;
             } else if (c == potentialStringDelimiter) {
                 if (inProperty && !inEscape) {
@@ -579,7 +583,13 @@ public class PathCompiler {
                 } else {
                     startPosition = readPosition + 1;
                     inProperty = true;
+                    lastSignificantWasComma = false;
+                }
+            } else if (c == COMMA){
+                if (lastSignificantWasComma){
+                    fail("Found empty property at index "+readPosition);
                 }
+                lastSignificantWasComma = true;
             }
             readPosition++;
         }
diff --git a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/PathCompilerTest.java b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/PathCompilerTest.java
index 7708bc07..60a5ba83 100644
--- a/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/PathCompilerTest.java
+++ b/json-path/src/test/java/com/jayway/jsonpath/PathCompilerTest.java
@@ -251,4 +251,19 @@ public class PathCompilerTest {
 
         assertThat(result).containsExactly("] it");
     }
+
+    @Test(expected = InvalidPathException.class)
+    public void array_indexes_must_be_separated_by_commas() {
+        compile("$[0, 1, 2 4]");
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = InvalidPathException.class)
+    public void trailing_comma_after_list_is_not_accepted() {
+        compile("$['1','2',]");
+    }
+
+    @Test(expected = InvalidPathException.class)
+    public void accept_only_a_single_comma_between_indexes() {
+        compile("$['1', ,'3']");
+    }
 }