diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c6c1a8c1adc8..0f4fcf006f51 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
+- refactored tableEnd check
 - Added commandline options to `checkpoint_benchmark.x` and `restart_benchmark.x` to allow for easier testing of different configurations. Note that the old configuration file style of input is allowed via the `--config_file` option (which overrides any other command line options)
 - Update ESMF version for Baselibs to match that of Spack for consistency
 - Update `components.yaml`
diff --git a/gridcomps/Cap/MAPL_CapGridComp.F90 b/gridcomps/Cap/MAPL_CapGridComp.F90
index c32e6fbe8609..61b8dbd73262 100644
--- a/gridcomps/Cap/MAPL_CapGridComp.F90
+++ b/gridcomps/Cap/MAPL_CapGridComp.F90
@@ -967,24 +967,22 @@ end function get_CapGridComp_from_gc
 
 
   function get_vec_from_config(config, key, rc) result(vec)
+    type(StringVector) :: vec
     type(ESMF_Config), intent(inout) :: config
     character(len=*), intent(in) :: key
     integer, intent(out), optional :: rc
     logical :: present, tableEnd
     integer :: status
-    character(len=ESMF_MAXSTR) :: cap_import
-    type(StringVector) :: vec
+    character(len=ESMF_MAXSTR) :: value
 
     call ESMF_ConfigFindLabel(config, key//":", isPresent = present, _RC)
 
-    cap_import = ""
     if (present) then
-
-       do while(trim(cap_import) /= "::")
+       do
           call ESMF_ConfigNextLine(config, tableEnd=tableEnd, _RC)
           if (tableEnd) exit
-          call ESMF_ConfigGetAttribute(config, cap_import, _RC)
-          if (trim(cap_import) /= "::") call vec%push_back(trim(cap_import))
+          call ESMF_ConfigGetAttribute(config, value, _RC)
+          call vec%push_back(trim(value))
        end do
     end if
     _RETURN(_SUCCESS)