diff --git a/internal/config/image/cuda_image.go b/internal/config/image/cuda_image.go
index 51ba2f891..2b9254cfa 100644
--- a/internal/config/image/cuda_image.go
+++ b/internal/config/image/cuda_image.go
@@ -180,14 +180,7 @@ func (i CUDA) devicesFromEnvvars(envVars ...string) []string {
 
 // GetDriverCapabilities returns the requested driver capabilities.
 func (i CUDA) GetDriverCapabilities() DriverCapabilities {
-	env := i.env[EnvVarNvidiaDriverCapabilities]
-
-	capabilities := make(DriverCapabilities)
-	for c := range strings.SplitSeq(env, ",") {
-		capabilities[DriverCapability(c)] = true
-	}
-
-	return capabilities
+	return NewDriverCapabilities(i.env[EnvVarNvidiaDriverCapabilities])
 }
 
 func (i CUDA) legacyVersion() (string, error) {
diff --git a/internal/config/image/cuda_image_test.go b/internal/config/image/cuda_image_test.go
index 0000e7129..3b8a58f4f 100644
--- a/internal/config/image/cuda_image_test.go
+++ b/internal/config/image/cuda_image_test.go
@@ -216,6 +216,56 @@ func TestGetRequirements(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetDriverCapabilities(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		description string
+		env         map[string]string
+		expected    []string
+	}{
+		{
+			description: "envvar unset",
+			expected:    nil,
+		},
+		{
+			description: "envvar empty",
+			env: map[string]string{
+				EnvVarNvidiaDriverCapabilities: "",
+			},
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			description: "comma-separated capabilities",
+			env: map[string]string{
+				EnvVarNvidiaDriverCapabilities: "compute,graphics",
+			},
+			expected: []string{"compute", "graphics"},
+		},
+		{
+			description: "whitespace around capabilities is trimmed",
+			env: map[string]string{
+				EnvVarNvidiaDriverCapabilities: " compute , graphics ",
+			},
+			expected: []string{"compute", "graphics"},
+		},
+		{
+			description: "empty entries are ignored",
+			env: map[string]string{
+				EnvVarNvidiaDriverCapabilities: "compute,,utility,",
+			},
+			expected: []string{"compute", "utility"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.description, func(t *testing.T) {
+			image, err := New(WithEnvMap(tc.env))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+
+			require.EqualValues(t, tc.expected, image.GetDriverCapabilities().List())
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestGetDevicesFromEnvvar(t *testing.T) {
 	envDockerResourceGPUs := "DOCKER_RESOURCE_GPUS"
 	gpuID := "GPU-12345"
diff --git a/internal/modifier/graphics_test.go b/internal/modifier/graphics_test.go
index 540fee5a3..dccc16c5d 100644
--- a/internal/modifier/graphics_test.go
+++ b/internal/modifier/graphics_test.go
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ func TestGraphicsModifier(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			expectedDevices: []string{"all"},
 		},
+		{
+			description: "devices with whitespace around graphics capability creates modifier",
+			envmap: map[string]string{
+				"NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES":     "all",
+				"NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES": "compute, graphics",
+			},
+			expectedDevices: []string{"all"},
+		},
 		{
 			description: "devices with display capability creates modifier",
 			envmap: map[string]string{