diff --git a/Lib/pydoc.py b/Lib/pydoc.py
index 3afb981..1103b01 100755
--- a/Lib/pydoc.py
+++ b/Lib/pydoc.py
@@ -1751,6 +1751,7 @@
 
     def help(self, request):
         if type(request) is type(''):
+            request = request.strip()
             if request == 'help': self.intro()
             elif request == 'keywords': self.listkeywords()
             elif request == 'symbols': self.listsymbols()