diff --git a/modguard/cli.py b/modguard/cli.py
index df1d606f..11213765 100644
--- a/modguard/cli.py
+++ b/modguard/cli.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def handle_shared_arguments(args: argparse.Namespace):
         if has_error:
             sys.exit(1)
 
-    return argparse.Namespace(path=path, exclude_paths=exclude_paths)
+    return argparse.Namespace(path=path, exclude_paths=exclude_paths.split(","))
 
 
 def modguard(args: argparse.Namespace):