diff --git a/src/grib_accessor_class_bufr_elements_table.c b/src/grib_accessor_class_bufr_elements_table.c
index 032b860cd..2849f283e 100644
--- a/src/grib_accessor_class_bufr_elements_table.c
+++ b/src/grib_accessor_class_bufr_elements_table.c
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ static grib_trie* load_bufr_elements_table(grib_accessor* a, int* err)
     dictionary=grib_trie_new(c);
 
     while(fgets(line,sizeof(line)-1,f)) {
-        list=string_split(line,'|');
+        list=string_split(line, "|");
         grib_trie_insert(dictionary,list[0],list);
     }
 
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ static grib_trie* load_bufr_elements_table(grib_accessor* a, int* err)
         if (!f) {*err=GRIB_IO_PROBLEM; dictionary=NULL; goto the_end;}
 
         while(fgets(line,sizeof(line)-1,f)) {
-            list=string_split(line,'|');
+            list=string_split(line, "|");
             grib_trie_insert(dictionary,list[0],list);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/grib_api_prototypes.h b/src/grib_api_prototypes.h
index 40004f4a3..6176b8a94 100644
--- a/src/grib_api_prototypes.h
+++ b/src/grib_api_prototypes.h
@@ -1421,7 +1421,7 @@ int is_index_file(const char *filename);
 char get_dir_separator_char(void);
 const char *extract_filename(const char *filepath);
 char *codes_getenv(const char *name);
-char** string_split(char* inputString, const char delimiterChar);
+char** string_split(char* inputString, const char* delimiter);
 
 /* bufr_util.c */
 int compute_bufr_key_rank(grib_handle* h, grib_string_list* keys, const char* key);
diff --git a/src/grib_util.c b/src/grib_util.c
index e17831c23..fdde23834 100644
--- a/src/grib_util.c
+++ b/src/grib_util.c
@@ -1682,19 +1682,22 @@ char* codes_getenv(const char* name)
     return result;
 }
 
+
 /* Returns an array of strings the last of which is NULL */
-char** string_split(char* inputString, const char delimiterChar)
+char** string_split(char* inputString, const char* delimiter)
 {
     char** result = NULL;
     char* p = inputString;
     char* lastDelimiter = NULL;
     char* aToken = NULL;
-    char delimiterString[2] = {0, 0};
     size_t numTokens = 0;
     size_t strLength = 0;
     size_t index = 0;
+    char delimiterChar = 0;
 
-    Assert(inputString);
+    DebugAssert(inputString);
+    DebugAssert( delimiter && (strlen(delimiter)==1) );
+    delimiterChar = delimiter[0];
     while (*p) {
         const char ctmp = *p;
         if (ctmp == delimiterChar) {
@@ -1712,14 +1715,12 @@ char** string_split(char* inputString, const char delimiterChar)
     result = (char**)malloc(numTokens * sizeof(char*));
     Assert(result);
 
-    delimiterString[0] = delimiterChar;
-    delimiterString[1] = '\0';
     /* Start tokenizing */
-    aToken = strtok(inputString, delimiterString);
+    aToken = strtok(inputString, delimiter);
     while (aToken) {
         Assert(index < numTokens);
         *(result + index++) = strdup(aToken);
-        aToken = strtok(NULL, delimiterString);
+        aToken = strtok(NULL, delimiter);
     }
     Assert(index == numTokens - 1);
     *(result + index) = '\0';
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests.c b/tests/unit_tests.c
index fdb46ad99..49c682e7d 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests.c
+++ b/tests/unit_tests.c
@@ -1371,7 +1371,7 @@ void test_string_splitting()
     int i=0;
     char input[80] = "Born|To|Be|Wild";
     char** list=0;
-    list = string_split(input, '|');
+    list = string_split(input, "|");
     for(i=0; list[i] != NULL; ++i) {} /* count how many tokens */
     assert(i == 4);
     if ( strcmp(list[0], "Born")!=0 ) assert(0);
@@ -1380,14 +1380,14 @@ void test_string_splitting()
     if ( strcmp(list[3], "Wild")!=0 ) assert(0);
 
     strcpy(input, "12345|a gap|");
-    list = string_split(input, '|');
+    list = string_split(input, "|");
     for(i=0; list[i] != NULL; ++i) {} /* count how many tokens */
     assert(i == 2);
     if ( strcmp(list[0], "12345")!=0 ) assert(0);
     if ( strcmp(list[1], "a gap")!=0 ) assert(0);
 
     strcpy(input, "Steppenwolf");
-    list = string_split(input, '|');
+    list = string_split(input, ",");
     for(i=0; list[i] != NULL; ++i) {} /* count how many tokens */
     assert(i == 1);
     if ( strcmp(list[0], "Steppenwolf")!=0 ) assert(0);