diff --git a/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets.go b/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets.go
index b392d239619..fb768e347b7 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets.go
@@ -20,14 +20,9 @@ func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) checkExistingSecrets() error {
 		addInteractiveLog.Printf("Could not fetch existing secrets: %v", err)
 		// Continue without error - we'll just assume no secrets exist
 	} else {
-		// Parse the output - each secret name is on its own line
-		secretNames := strings.SplitSeq(strings.TrimSpace(string(output)), "\n")
-		for name := range secretNames {
-			name = strings.TrimSpace(name)
-			if name != "" {
-				c.existingSecrets[name] = true
-				addInteractiveLog.Printf("Found existing repository secret: %s", name)
-			}
+		for _, name := range parseSecretNames(output) {
+			c.existingSecrets[name] = true
+			addInteractiveLog.Printf("Found existing repository secret: %s", name)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -37,13 +32,9 @@ func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) checkExistingSecrets() error {
 		if orgErr != nil {
 			addInteractiveLog.Printf("Could not fetch org secrets (this is expected for personal repos or if org access is restricted): %v", orgErr)
 		} else {
-			orgSecretNames := strings.SplitSeq(strings.TrimSpace(string(orgOutput)), "\n")
-			for name := range orgSecretNames {
-				name = strings.TrimSpace(name)
-				if name != "" {
-					c.existingSecrets[name] = true
-					addInteractiveLog.Printf("Found existing org secret: %s", name)
-				}
+			for _, name := range parseSecretNames(orgOutput) {
+				c.existingSecrets[name] = true
+				addInteractiveLog.Printf("Found existing org secret: %s", name)
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -64,6 +55,18 @@ func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) addRepositorySecret(name, value string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// parseSecretNames parses newline-delimited GitHub API output and returns the
+// non-empty, trimmed secret names.
+func parseSecretNames(output []byte) []string {
+	var names []string
+	for name := range strings.SplitSeq(strings.TrimSpace(string(output)), "\n") {
+		if name = strings.TrimSpace(name); name != "" {
+			names = append(names, name)
+		}
+	}
+	return names
+}
+
 // getSecretInfo returns the secret name and value based on the selected engine
 // Returns empty value if the secret already exists in the repository
 func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) getSecretInfo() (name string, value string, err error) {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets_test.go b/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets_test.go
index 2490a65d56f..6dc048168ad 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/add_interactive_secrets_test.go
@@ -169,6 +169,57 @@ func TestAddInteractiveConfig_configureEngineAPISecret_skipSecret(t *testing.T)
 	}
 }
 
+func TestParseSecretNames(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		input    []byte
+		expected []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "single secret name",
+			input:    []byte("MY_SECRET\n"),
+			expected: []string{"MY_SECRET"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "multiple secret names",
+			input:    []byte("SECRET_A\nSECRET_B\nSECRET_C"),
+			expected: []string{"SECRET_A", "SECRET_B", "SECRET_C"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty output",
+			input:    []byte(""),
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "output with only whitespace",
+			input:    []byte("   \n  \n"),
+			expected: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "names with surrounding whitespace",
+			input:    []byte("  MY_SECRET  \n  ANOTHER_SECRET  "),
+			expected: []string{"MY_SECRET", "ANOTHER_SECRET"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "output with blank lines interspersed",
+			input:    []byte("FIRST_SECRET\n\nSECOND_SECRET\n\n"),
+			expected: []string{"FIRST_SECRET", "SECOND_SECRET"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "trailing newline is handled correctly",
+			input:    []byte("SECRET_ONE\nSECRET_TWO\n"),
+			expected: []string{"SECRET_ONE", "SECRET_TWO"},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := parseSecretNames(tt.input)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, result, "parseSecretNames output should match expected")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAddInteractiveConfig_checkExistingSecrets(t *testing.T) {
 	config := &AddInteractiveConfig{
 		RepoOverride: "test-owner/test-repo",