diff --git a/src/variable.cpp b/src/variable.cpp
index 1af4a4728a..6766a67a9a 100644
--- a/src/variable.cpp
+++ b/src/variable.cpp
@@ -4708,42 +4708,19 @@ double Variable::constant(char *word)
 
 int Variable::parse_args(char *str, char **args)
 {
-  char *ptrnext;
   int   narg = 0;
-  char *ptr = str;
+  Tokenizer values(str,",");
 
-  while (ptr && narg < MAXFUNCARG) {
-    ptrnext = find_next_comma(ptr);
-    if (ptrnext) *ptrnext = '\0';
-    args[narg] = utils::strdup(ptr);
+  while (values.has_next() && narg < MAXFUNCARG) {
+    args[narg] = utils::strdup(values.next());
     narg++;
-    ptr = ptrnext;
-    if (ptr) ptr++;
   }
 
-  if (ptr) error->all(FLERR,"Too many args in variable function");
+  if (values.has_next())
+    error->all(FLERR,"Too many args in variable function");
   return narg;
 }
 
-
-/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-   find next comma in str
-   skip commas inside one or more nested parenthesis
-   only return ptr to comma at level 0, else nullptr if not found
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
-
-char *Variable::find_next_comma(char *str)
-{
-  int level = 0;
-  for (char *p = str; *p; ++p) {
-    if ('(' == *p) level++;
-    else if (')' == *p) level--;
-    else if (',' == *p && !level) return p;
-  }
-  return nullptr;
-}
-
-
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    helper routine for printing variable name with error message
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
diff --git a/src/variable.h b/src/variable.h
index 2519bc7ac9..cb74e71b51 100644
--- a/src/variable.h
+++ b/src/variable.h
@@ -125,7 +125,6 @@ class Variable : protected Pointers {
   int is_constant(char *);
   double constant(char *);
   int parse_args(char *, char **);
-  char *find_next_comma(char *);
   void print_var_error(const std::string &, int, const std::string &,
                        int, int global=1);
   void print_tree(Tree *, int);