diff --git a/hathor/sysctl/runner.py b/hathor/sysctl/runner.py
index ef75a21b6..6ee32cb7b 100644
--- a/hathor/sysctl/runner.py
+++ b/hathor/sysctl/runner.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def deserialize(self, value_str: str) -> Any:
         if len(value_str) == 0:
             return ()
 
-        parts = [x.strip() for x in value_str.split(',')]
+        parts = json.loads(f'[{value_str}]')
         if len(parts) > 1:
-            return tuple(json.loads(x) for x in parts)
+            return tuple(parts)
         return json.loads(value_str)
diff --git a/tests/sysctl/test_runner.py b/tests/sysctl/test_runner.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4d1c6806
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/sysctl/test_runner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+
+import pytest
+
+from hathor.sysctl import Sysctl
+from hathor.sysctl.runner import SysctlRunner
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    'args',
+    [
+        'string',
+        "\"",
+        1,
+        True,
+        False,
+        'a,b',
+        (1, 2, 3),
+        (1, 'string', True),
+        [1, 2, 3],
+        (1, [1, 2, 3]),
+        (1, ["a,a,a", "b", "c"]),
+    ]
+)
+def test_deserialize(args):
+    root = Sysctl()
+    runner = SysctlRunner(root)
+
+    args_serialized = runner.serialize(args)
+    args_deserialized = runner.deserialize(args_serialized)
+
+    assert args == args_deserialized