diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/dfc_product_imports_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/dfc_product_imports_controller.rb
index df2cec0347..d3001838b6 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/dfc_product_imports_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/dfc_product_imports_controller.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ module Admin
     def index
       # Fetch DFC catalog JSON for preview
       api = DfcRequest.new(spree_current_user)
-      @catalog_url = params.require(:catalog_url)
+      @catalog_url = params.require(:catalog_url).strip
       @catalog_json = api.call(@catalog_url)
       graph = DfcIo.import(@catalog_json)
       catalog = DfcCatalog.new(graph)
diff --git a/spec/system/admin/dfc_product_import_spec.rb b/spec/system/admin/dfc_product_import_spec.rb
index 8e45169409..03c86eb379 100644
--- a/spec/system/admin/dfc_product_import_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/system/admin/dfc_product_import_spec.rb
@@ -20,18 +20,17 @@ RSpec.describe "DFC Product Import" do
   it "imports from given catalog" do
     visit admin_product_import_path
 
-    # We are testing against our own catalog for now but we want to replace
-    # this with the URL of another app when available.
-    # We also add a common mistake: copying the URL with an extra space.
-    host = Rails.application.default_url_options[:host]
-    url = " http://#{host}/api/dfc/enterprises/#{enterprise.id}/catalog_items"
-    fill_in "catalog_url", with: url
+    fill_in "catalog_url", with: "invalid url"
     select enterprise.name, from: "Create products for enterprise"
     click_button "Preview"
 
     expect(page).to have_content "This catalog URL is not valid"
 
-    url = "http://#{host}/api/dfc/enterprises/#{enterprise.id}/catalog_items"
+    # We are testing against our own catalog for now but we want to replace
+    # this with the URL of another app when available.
+    # We also add a common mistake: copying the URL with an extra space.
+    host = Rails.application.default_url_options[:host]
+    url = " http://#{host}/api/dfc/enterprises/#{enterprise.id}/catalog_items"
     fill_in "catalog_url", with: url
     select enterprise.name, from: "Create products for enterprise"
     click_button "Preview"