diff --git a/irc/metadata.go b/irc/metadata.go
index adba3d76..a506b8ba 100644
--- a/irc/metadata.go
+++ b/irc/metadata.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"iter"
 	"maps"
 	"regexp"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/ergochat/ergo/irc/caps"
 	"github.com/ergochat/ergo/irc/modes"
@@ -109,8 +108,6 @@ func syncChannelMetadata(server *Server, rb *ResponseBuffer, channel *Channel) {
 var metadataEvilCharsRegexp = regexp.MustCompile("[^A-Za-z0-9_./:-]+")
 
 func metadataKeyIsEvil(key string) bool {
-	key = strings.TrimSpace(key) // just in case
-
 	return len(key) == 0 || // key needs to contain stuff
 		key[0] == ':' || // key can't start with a colon
 		metadataEvilCharsRegexp.MatchString(key) // key can't contain the stuff it can't contain