diff --git a/sanitiser/_input.js b/sanitiser/_input.js
index 2128f91e..685e7cf5 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_input.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_input.js
@@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ function sanitize( req ){
     parsedAddress0.admin_parts = params.input.substring(delimIndex + 1).trim();
   }
 
-  var splitOnSpace = params.input.split(' ');
-  var splitOnDelim = params.input.split(delim);
+  var splitOnDelim = params.input.split(delim).join('');
+  var splitOnSpace = delim !== ' ' ? splitOnDelim.split(' ') : splitOnDelim;
   // set target_layer if input length <= 3 characters
   if (params.input.length <= 3 ) {
     // no address parsing required
     parsedAddress2.target_layer = get_layers(['admin']);
-  } else if (splitOnDelim.length < 3 || splitOnSpace.length < 3) {
+  } else if (splitOnSpace.length < 3) {
     // no need to hit address layers if there's only two tokens
     parsedAddress2.target_layer = get_layers(['admin', 'poi']);
   } else {