diff --git a/app/Services/Nzb/NzbImportService.php b/app/Services/Nzb/NzbImportService.php
index 215a1bdaf..caf2734f4 100644
--- a/app/Services/Nzb/NzbImportService.php
+++ b/app/Services/Nzb/NzbImportService.php
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ class NzbImportService
             // Get the group names, group_id, check if it's blacklisted.
             $groupArr = [];
             foreach ($file->groups->group as $group) {
-                $group = (string) $group;
+                $group = $this->normalizeGroupName($group);
 
                 // If group_id is -1 try to get a group_id.
                 if ($groupID === -1) {
@@ -641,6 +641,11 @@ class NzbImportService
         return NzbImportStatus::Inserted;
     }
 
+    protected function normalizeGroupName(\SimpleXMLElement|string $group): string
+    {
+        return trim((string) $group);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Get all groups in the DB.
      */
diff --git a/tests/Unit/NzbImportServiceTest.php b/tests/Unit/NzbImportServiceTest.php
index 17e46c1ff..19d042e62 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/NzbImportServiceTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/NzbImportServiceTest.php
@@ -237,6 +237,22 @@ final class NzbImportServiceTest extends TestCase
         $this->assertSame($expected, $service->deriveForTest($input));
     }
 
+    public function test_group_names_are_trimmed_before_import(): void
+    {
+        $service = new class(['Browser' => true]) extends NzbImportService
+        {
+            public function groupNameForTest(\SimpleXMLElement $group): string
+            {
+                return $this->normalizeGroupName($group);
+            }
+        };
+
+        $group = simplexml_load_string('<group> alt.binaries.xylo </group>');
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(\SimpleXMLElement::class, $group);
+
+        $this->assertSame('alt.binaries.xylo', $service->groupNameForTest($group));
+    }
+
     public function test_nzb_category_metadata_resolves_active_id_and_unique_case_insensitive_title(): void
     {
         $this->insertCategory(2040, 'HD', Category::STATUS_ACTIVE);