diff --git a/bin/foamCleanPath b/bin/foamCleanPath
index 77ada4b593..11287273e7 100755
--- a/bin/foamCleanPath
+++ b/bin/foamCleanPath
@@ -27,59 +27,88 @@
 #     foamCleanPath
 #
 # Description
-#     Usage: cleanPath path [wildcard] .. [wildcard]
+#     Usage: foamCleanPath path [wildcard] .. [wildcard]
 #
 #     Prints its argument (which should be a ':' separated path)
 #     without all
 #         - duplicate elements
 #         - non-accessible directories
 #         - elements whose start matches a wildcard
+#
+#     Note:
+#         - this routine will fail when directories have embedded spaces
+#         - false matches possible if a wildcard contains '.' (sed regex)
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+if [ "$#" -lt 1 -o "$1" = "-h" -o "$1" = "-help" ]
+then
+   cat <<USAGE 1>&2
+Usage: ${0##*/} path [wildcard] .. [wildcard]
 
-if [ $# -eq 1 ]; then
-    dirList="$1"
-elif [ $# -gt 1 ]; then
-    dirList="$1"
-    shift
-    while [ 1 -le $# ] ; do
-        wildCard=$1
-        shift
-        dirList=`echo "$dirList" | sed -e "s@${wildCard}[^:]*:@@g"`
-    done
-else
-    echo "Usage: $0 path [wildcard]" 1>&2
-    echo "" 1>&2
-    echo "Prints argument path with all entries matching " 1>&2
-    echo "the wildcard removed." 1>&2
-    exit 1
+    Prints its argument (which should be a ':' separated list) cleansed from
+      - duplicate elements
+      - non-accessible directories
+      - elements whose start matches one of the wildcard(s)
+USAGE
+   exit 1
 fi
 
+dirList="$1"
+shift
 
+##DEBUG echo "input>$dirList<" 1>&2
+
+# preserve current IFS and split on whitespace
 oldIFS="$IFS"
-IFS=':'
+IFS=' '
 
-newDirList=''
+# "wildcard1 ... wildcardN" may have been passed as a single parameter
+set -- $*
 
-for dir in $dirList
+# strip out wildcards via sed
+while [ "$#" -ge 1 ]
 do
-
-    #- non existing
-    if [ ! -e "$dir" ]; then
-        continue
-    fi
-
-    #- duplicate
-    dirListWithout=`echo ":${newDirList}:" | sed -e "s@:${dir}:@::@"`
-    if [ "$dirListWithout" != ":${newDirList}:" ]; then
-        continue
-    fi
-
-    newDirList="$newDirList:$dir"
+   wildcard=$1
+   shift
+   ##DEBUG echo "remove>$wildcard<" 1>&2
+   dirList=`echo "$dirList" | sed -e "s@${wildcard}[^:]*:@@g"`
 done
 
+# split on ':' (and on space as well to avoid any surprises)
+IFS=': '
+set -- $dirList
+
+##DEBUG echo "intermediate>$dirList<" 1>&2
+
+# rebuild the list from scratch
+unset dirList
+for dir
+do
+   ##DEBUG echo "check>$dir<" 1>&2
+   #- dirs must exist
+   if [ -e "$dir" ]
+   then
+      #- no duplicate dirs
+      duplicate=`echo " $dirList " | sed -ne "s@ $dir @DUP@p"`
+
+      if [ ! "$duplicate" ]
+      then
+         dirList="$dirList $dir"
+      fi
+   fi
+done
+
+# parse on whitespace
+IFS=' '
+set -- $dirList
+
+# join on ':'
+IFS=':'
+dirList="$*"
+
+# restore IFS
 IFS="$oldIFS"
 
-# Remove leading or trailing colons
-echo "$newDirList" | sed -e 's@^:@@' -e 's@:$@@'
+##DEBUG echo "output>$dirList<" 1>&2
+echo "$dirList"
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/etc/bashrc b/etc/bashrc
index 99f0d872a5..7e9a84e8d9 100644
--- a/etc/bashrc
+++ b/etc/bashrc
@@ -175,11 +175,12 @@ wildCards="$FOAM_INST_DIR $HOME/$WM_PROJECT/$USER"
 cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$PATH" "$wildCards"` && PATH="$cleanPath"
 
 #- Clean LD_LIBRARY_PATH
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=`$cleanProg "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" "$wildCards"`
+cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" "$wildCards"` && LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$cleanPath"
 
 #- Clean MANPATH
-export MANPATH=`$cleanProg "$MANPATH" "$wildCards"`
+cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$MANPATH" "$wildCards"` && MANPATH="$cleanPath"
 
+export PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH MANPATH
 
 # Source project setup files
 # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -208,14 +209,17 @@ SOURCE $WM_PROJECT_DIR/etc/apps/cint/bashrc
 cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$PATH"` && PATH="$cleanPath"
 
 #- Clean LD_LIBRARY_PATH
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=`$cleanProg "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"`
+cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"` && LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$cleanPath"
 
 #- Clean MANPATH
-export MANPATH=`$cleanProg "$MANPATH"`
+cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$MANPATH"` && MANPATH="$cleanPath"
+
+export PATH LD_LIBRARY_PATH MANPATH
 
 #- Clean LD_PRELOAD
 if [ "$LD_PRELOAD" != "" ]; then
-    export LD_PRELOAD=`$cleanProg "$LD_PRELOAD"`
+    cleanPath=`$cleanProg "$LD_PRELOAD"` && LD_PRELOAD="$cleanPath"
+    export LD_PRELOAD
 fi