diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5908b10e7..8558b0e26 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. This project adheres to Semantic Versioning.
 
+### 7.6.1
+* Remove whitespaces from category strings
+* Make rabbitmq publishing error message more clear
+
 ### 7.6.0
 * Deprecate MySQL as message queue provider, the extension now uses RabbitMQ as the default message queue provider
 * Add command to clear the Nosto message queue
diff --git a/Model/Service/Product/Category/DefaultCategoryService.php b/Model/Service/Product/Category/DefaultCategoryService.php
index 03a03f63a..e36cfa8d7 100644
--- a/Model/Service/Product/Category/DefaultCategoryService.php
+++ b/Model/Service/Product/Category/DefaultCategoryService.php
@@ -130,7 +130,8 @@ public function getCategory(Category $category, StoreInterface $store)
                 ['categoryString' => $nostoCategory, 'magentoCategory' => $category]
             );
         }
-        return $nostoCategory;
+
+        return $nostoCategory ? trim($nostoCategory) : $nostoCategory;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 4a128c076..86278a314 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "nosto/module-nostotagging",
   "description": "Increase your conversion rate and average order value by delivering your customers personalized product recommendations throughout their shopping journey.",
   "type": "magento2-module",
-  "version": "7.6.0",
+  "version": "7.6.1",
   "require-dev": {
     "phpmd/phpmd": "^2.5",
     "sebastian/phpcpd": "*",
diff --git a/etc/module.xml b/etc/module.xml
index d7070be90..245439d94 100755
--- a/etc/module.xml
+++ b/etc/module.xml
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@
 <!--suppress XmlUnboundNsPrefix -->
 <config xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="urn:magento:framework:Module/etc/module.xsd">
-    <module name="Nosto_Tagging" setup_version="7.6.0"/>
+    <module name="Nosto_Tagging" setup_version="7.6.1"/>
 </config>