diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 887df39c..3181cf01 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 ### Changed
 
+* Keywords are trimmed and empty ones dropped in `pyproject.toml` and `CITATION.cff`; an empty answer leaves out `keywords` in `CITATION.cff` [#715](https://github.com/NLeSC/python-template/pull/715)
 * Following [PEP 639](https://peps.python.org/pep-0639/#specification), updated `license` and `license-files` keys in `pyproject.toml` [#707](https://github.com/NLeSC/python-template/pull/707)
 * Update CI actions to use Python 3.14 instead of 3.12 [#703](https://github.com/NLeSC/python-template/pull/703)
 * Recommend `ruff format` instead of `yapf` for fixing code style readability [#695](https://github.com/NLeSC/python-template/pull/695)
diff --git a/template/pyproject.toml.jinja b/template/pyproject.toml.jinja
index 7c19c0bc..12253984 100644
--- a/template/pyproject.toml.jinja
+++ b/template/pyproject.toml.jinja
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ classifiers = [
 dependencies = []
 description = "{{ package_short_description|replace('\"', '\\\"') }}"
 keywords = [
-{%- for item in keywords.split(',') -%}
+{%- for item in keywords.split(',') | map('trim') | reject('equalto', '') -%}
 "{{ item }}"{{ "," if not loop.last }}
 {%- endfor -%}
 ]
diff --git a/template/{% if AddCitation %}CITATION.cff{% endif %}.jinja b/template/{% if AddCitation %}CITATION.cff{% endif %}.jinja
index 699d11fe..7b0cbffa 100644
--- a/template/{% if AddCitation %}CITATION.cff{% endif %}.jinja	
+++ b/template/{% if AddCitation %}CITATION.cff{% endif %}.jinja	
@@ -9,8 +9,11 @@ authors:
 date-released: {{ '%Y-%m-%d' | strftime }}
 version: "{{ version }}"
 repository-code: "{{ repository_url }}"
+{%- set keyword_list = keywords.split(',') | map('trim') | reject('equalto', '') | list %}
+{%- if keyword_list %}
 keywords:
-{%- for item in keywords.split(',') %}
+{%- for item in keyword_list %}
   - "{{ item }}"
 {%- endfor %}
+{%- endif %}
 message: "If you use this software, please cite it using these metadata."
diff --git a/tests/test_values.py b/tests/test_values.py
index 6bb78dad..ff54d13e 100644
--- a/tests/test_values.py
+++ b/tests/test_values.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import tomllib
+
 from test_project import copier_project_defaults
 
 def test_double_quotes_in_name_and_description(copie, copier_project_defaults):
@@ -22,3 +24,26 @@ def test_single_quotes_in_name_and_description(copie, copier_project_defaults):
     project = copie.copy(extra_answers=project_defaults)
 
     assert project.exit_code == 0
+
+
+def test_keywords_are_trimmed(copie, copier_project_defaults):
+    project_defaults = copier_project_defaults
+    project_defaults.update({"keywords": "kw1, second kw , kw3"})
+    project = copie.copy(extra_answers=project_defaults)
+
+    assert project.exit_code == 0
+    pyproject = tomllib.loads((project.project_dir / "pyproject.toml").read_text())
+    assert pyproject["project"]["keywords"] == ["kw1", "second kw", "kw3"]
+    citation = (project.project_dir / "CITATION.cff").read_text()
+    assert '  - "kw1"\n  - "second kw"\n  - "kw3"\n' in citation
+
+
+def test_empty_keywords_are_omitted(copie, copier_project_defaults):
+    project_defaults = copier_project_defaults
+    project_defaults.update({"keywords": ""})
+    project = copie.copy(extra_answers=project_defaults)
+
+    assert project.exit_code == 0
+    pyproject = tomllib.loads((project.project_dir / "pyproject.toml").read_text())
+    assert pyproject["project"]["keywords"] == []
+    assert "keywords" not in (project.project_dir / "CITATION.cff").read_text()