diff --git a/src/utilities.cpp b/src/utilities.cpp
index 22c76d2..23ca7cf 100644
--- a/src/utilities.cpp
+++ b/src/utilities.cpp
@@ -40,15 +40,10 @@ bool case_less::operator()(const string &left, const string &right) const {
 	return strcasecmp(left.c_str(), right.c_str()) < 0;
 }
 
-// General tool to strip spaces from both ends:
 string trim(const string& s) {
-  if(s.length() == 0)
-    return s;
-  int b = s.find_first_not_of(" \t\r");
-  int e = s.find_last_not_of(" \t\r");
-  if(b == -1) // No non-spaces
-    return "";
-  return string(s, b, e - b + 1);
+  auto b = s.find_first_not_of(" \t\r");
+  auto e = s.find_last_not_of(" \t\r");
+  return b == string::npos ? "" : string(s, b, e + 1 - b);
 }
 
 bool fileExists(const string &file) {
diff --git a/src/utilities.h b/src/utilities.h
index 7a9d038..11ea6eb 100644
--- a/src/utilities.h
+++ b/src/utilities.h
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ public:
 	bool operator()(const std::string &left, const std::string &right) const;
 };
 
+/** Returns the string with whitespace stripped from both ends. */
 std::string trim(const std::string& s);
+
 std::string strreplace(std::string orig, const std::string &search, const std::string &replace);
 std::string cmdclean(std::string cmdline);