diff --git a/labextension/vpython/src/glowcommlab.js b/labextension/vpython/src/glowcommlab.js
index d1bc6f6..8f2f27f 100644
--- a/labextension/vpython/src/glowcommlab.js
+++ b/labextension/vpython/src/glowcommlab.js
@@ -537,13 +537,8 @@ function decode(data) {
                     vs = [Number(val[1]), Number(val[2]), Number(val[3]), Number(val[4])]
                 }
 			} else if (textattrs.indexOf(attr) > -1) {
-                if (attr == 'choices') {          // menu choices are wrapped in a list
-					val = m[3].slice(1, -1)       // remove outer brackets
-                    val = val.replace(/'/g, '')   // remove quotes
-                    val = val.replace(/, /g, ',') // remove spaces after commas
-					let s = val.split(',')
-                    val = []
-					for (let a of s) { val.push(a) }
+                if (attr == 'choices') { // menu choices are wrapped in a list
+					val = m[3].slice(2, -2).split("', '") // choices separated by ', '
                 } else {
                     // '\n' doesn't survive JSON transmission, so in vpython.py we replace '\n' with '<br>'
                     val = m[3].replace(/<br>/g, "\n")
diff --git a/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.html b/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.html
index da47092..1c1f3e0 100644
--- a/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.html
+++ b/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.html
@@ -454,13 +454,8 @@
                     vs = [Number(val[1]), Number(val[2]), Number(val[3]), Number(val[4])]
                 }
 			} else if (textattrs.indexOf(attr) > -1) {
-                if (attr == 'choices') {          // menu choices are wrapped in a list
-					val = m[3].slice(1, -1)       // remove outer brackets
-                    val = val.replace(/'/g, '')   // remove quotes
-                    val = val.replace(/, /g, ',') // remove spaces after commas
-					let s = val.split(',')
-                    val = []
-					for (let a of s) { val.push(a) }
+				if (attr == 'choices') {          // menu choices are wrapped in a list
+					val = m[3].slice(2, -2).split("', '") // choices separated by ', '
                 } else {
                     // '\n' doesn't survive JSON transmission, so in vpython.py we replace '\n' with '<br>'
                     val = m[3].replace(/<br>/g, "\n")
diff --git a/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.js b/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.js
index fde6627..2f24dc2 100644
--- a/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.js
+++ b/vpython/vpython_libraries/glowcomm.js
@@ -505,12 +505,7 @@ function decode(data) {
                 }
 			} else if (textattrs.indexOf(attr) > -1) {
 				if (attr == 'choices') {          // menu choices are wrapped in a list
-					val = m[3].slice(1, -1)       // remove outer brackets
-					val = val.replace(/'/g, '')   // remove quotes
-					val = val.replace(/, /g, ',') // remove spaces after commas
-					let s = val.split(',')
-					val = []
-					for (let a of s) { val.push(a) }
+					val = m[3].slice(2, -2).split("', '") // choices separated by ', '
                 } else {
                     // '\n' doesn't survive JSON transmission, so in vpython.py we replace '\n' with '<br>'
                     val = m[3].replace(/<br>/g, "\n")