diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/taskdata.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/taskdata.py
index 902cc140ef..5b2418f665 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/taskdata.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/taskdata.py
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ class TaskData:
             # Touch all intertask dependencies
             if 'depends' in task_deps and task in task_deps['depends']:
                 ids = []
-                for dep in task_deps['depends'][task].split(" "):
+                for dep in task_deps['depends'][task].split():
                     if dep:
                         ids.append(str(self.getbuild_id(dep.split(":")[0])) + ":" + dep.split(":")[1])
                 self.tasks_idepends[taskid].extend(ids)