diff --git a/src/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py b/src/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py
index 7c0d9684..0288dae8 100644
--- a/src/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py
+++ b/src/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig.py
@@ -23,16 +23,25 @@ class CmdCreatePkgConfig(Cmd):  # export
     def __cleanup_requires(string: str) -> str:
         import re
 
-        regexes = [
-            (r'^ +', ''),
-            (r'([ \t]|$)+', ', '),
-            (r', $', ''),
-            (r', $', ''),
-            (r' *,* *([<>=]+) *,* *', r' \1 '),
-        ]
-        for patt, replacement in regexes:
-            string = re.sub(patt, replacement, string)
-        return string
+        rx_op = r'(!=|<=|>=|==|[<>=])'
+        ret: list[str] = []
+        for element in string.split(','):
+            # -- Separate the version constraints from their operands,
+            # which turns every package name, operator, and version into
+            # its own whitespace-separated token
+            element = re.sub(rx_op, r' \1 ', element)
+            tokens = element.split()
+            i = 0
+            while i < len(tokens):
+                if (i + 2 < len(tokens)
+                        and re.fullmatch(rx_op, tokens[i + 1]) is not None):
+                    # -- Merge the name, operator, and version back together
+                    ret.append(' '.join(tokens[i:i + 3]))
+                    i += 3
+                    continue
+                ret.append(tokens[i])
+                i += 1
+        return ', '.join(ret)
 
     @override
     def add_arguments(self, parser: ArgumentParser) -> None:
diff --git a/test/unit/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig/Makefile b/test/unit/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..47708b2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+TOPDIR = ../../../../../../../..
+
+include $(TOPDIR)/make/proj.mk
+include $(JWBDIR)/make/py-run.mk
+
+all:
+
+test: run
diff --git a/test/unit/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig/test.py b/test/unit/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig/test.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ef6c1d92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/python/jw/pkg/cmds/projects/CmdCreatePkgConfig/test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+from jw.pkg.cmds.projects.CmdCreatePkgConfig import CmdCreatePkgConfig
+
+# __cleanup_requires() is a private staticmethod; reach it via getattr
+cleanup = getattr(CmdCreatePkgConfig, '_CmdCreatePkgConfig__cleanup_requires')
+
+# -- __cleanup_requires --
+
+# Comma- and space-separated input alike comes out as a clean ", "-joined list
+assert cleanup('jw-core >= 1.0, jw-base') == 'jw-core >= 1.0, jw-base'
+assert cleanup('jw-core >= 1.0 jw-base') == 'jw-core >= 1.0, jw-base'
+assert cleanup('jw-core >= 1.0,   jw-base') == 'jw-core >= 1.0, jw-base'
+
+# Plain names without version constraints are joined the same way
+assert cleanup('a b c') == 'a, b, c'
+
+# A single element is unchanged
+assert cleanup('jw-core >= 1.0') == 'jw-core >= 1.0'
+
+# The empty input yields the empty output
+assert cleanup('') == ''
+
+# Every constraint operator is re-paired with its name and version
+assert (
+    cleanup('x <= 2, y != 3, z == 4, w > 5, v < 6, u = 7') ==
+    'x <= 2, y != 3, z == 4, w > 5, v < 6, u = 7'
+)
+
+# Whitespace around a separator collapses to a single ", "
+assert cleanup('jw-a = 1.0 , jw-b = 2.0') == 'jw-a = 1.0, jw-b = 2.0'
+
+print('All CmdCreatePkgConfig tests passed')