diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index ac93204d..ecbd1784 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ livecd-rootfs (2.781) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Drop use of deprecated apt-key.
   * Drop edubuntu and kubuntu-active, both obsolete in *all* supported
     releases.
+  * Fix passing of components to germinate commandline (how did this ever
+    work?)
 
  -- Steve Langasek <steve.langasek@ubuntu.com>  Wed, 21 Sep 2022 13:26:30 -0700
 
diff --git a/live-build/auto/config b/live-build/auto/config
index 13052ed2..b895a4df 100755
--- a/live-build/auto/config
+++ b/live-build/auto/config
@@ -669,9 +669,12 @@ esac
 
 if ! [ -e config/germinate-output/structure ]; then
         echo "Running germinate..."
+        if [ -n "$COMPONENTS" ]; then
+		GERMINATE_ARG="-c $(echo $COMPONENTS | sed -e's/ \+/,/g')"
+	fi
         (cd config/germinate-output && germinate --no-rdepends --no-installer \
                 -S $SEEDMIRROR -m $MIRROR -d $SUITE -s $SEED \
-                ${COMPONENTS:+-c "$COMPONENTS"} -a $ARCH)
+                $GERMINATE_ARG -a $ARCH)
 fi
 
 case $PROJECT in