diff --git a/temporal-sdk/src/main/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactory.java b/temporal-sdk/src/main/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactory.java
index 70bcf28c76..0d23890283 100644
--- a/temporal-sdk/src/main/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactory.java
+++ b/temporal-sdk/src/main/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactory.java
@@ -181,7 +181,8 @@ public Worker newWorker(String taskQueue) {
    */
   public synchronized Worker newWorker(String taskQueue, WorkerOptions options) {
     Preconditions.checkArgument(
-        !Strings.isNullOrEmpty(taskQueue), "taskQueue should not be an empty string");
+        !Strings.isNullOrEmpty(taskQueue) && !taskQueue.trim().isEmpty(),
+        "taskQueue should not be an empty or blank string");
     Preconditions.checkState(
         state == State.Initial,
         String.format(statusErrorMessage, "create new worker", state.name(), State.Initial.name()));
diff --git a/temporal-sdk/src/test/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactoryValidationTest.java b/temporal-sdk/src/test/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactoryValidationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f093b2f1f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/temporal-sdk/src/test/java/io/temporal/worker/WorkerFactoryValidationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package io.temporal.worker;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThrows;
+
+import io.temporal.testing.TestWorkflowEnvironment;
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class WorkerFactoryValidationTest {
+
+  private TestWorkflowEnvironment env;
+
+  @Before
+  public void setUp() {
+    env = TestWorkflowEnvironment.newInstance();
+  }
+
+  @After
+  public void tearDown() {
+    env.close();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void newWorkerRejectsNullTaskQueue() {
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> env.getWorkerFactory().newWorker(null));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void newWorkerRejectsEmptyTaskQueue() {
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> env.getWorkerFactory().newWorker(""));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void newWorkerRejectsBlankTaskQueue() {
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> env.getWorkerFactory().newWorker("   "));
+  }
+}