diff --git a/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.c b/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.c
index 6762b07..8a8176a 100644
--- a/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.c
+++ b/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.c
@@ -3,17 +3,13 @@
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 
-ssize_t skip_blanks(char **str)
+char *trim_blank_left(char *str)
 {
-    if (str == NULL || *str == NULL)
-    {
-        return 0;
-    }
-    ssize_t skipped = 0;
-    while (*str[skipped] != '\0' && !isblank(str[skipped]))
-    {
-        skipped++;
-    }
-    *str += skipped;
-    return skipped;
+    if (str == NULL)
+        return NULL;
+
+    while (*str != '\0' && isblank(*str))
+        str++;
+
+    return str;
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.h b/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.h
index 5e6df94..496c1d5 100644
--- a/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.h
+++ b/src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.h
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
 /*
- * @brief: skips blank characters at the beginning of [str].
- * @return: number of characters skipped.
+ * @brief trims leading blank characters (space and tab) from the input string.
+ * @param str input string to be trimmed.
+ * @return pointer to the first non-blank character in the string. If the
+ * string consists entirely of blank characters, returns a pointer to the null
+ * terminator at the end of the string.
  */
-ssize_t skip_blanks(char **str);
+char *trim_blank_left(char *str);
 
 #endif /* STRING_UTILS_H */
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils/utils_tests.c b/tests/unit/utils/utils_tests.c
index 1076aab..b7c326f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils/utils_tests.c
+++ b/tests/unit/utils/utils_tests.c
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
-#include "utils/string_utils/string_utils.h"
+#include "../../../src/utils/string_utils/string_utils.h"
 
 TestSuite(string_utils);
 
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_basic)
     char input[] = "  Hello World";
     char expected_str[] = "Hello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 2;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_noblank)
@@ -25,10 +26,11 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_noblank)
     char input[] = "Hello World";
     char expected_str[] = "Hello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 0;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_tab)
@@ -36,10 +38,11 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_tab)
     char input[] = "\tHello World";
     char expected_str[] = "Hello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 1;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_space_tab)
@@ -47,10 +50,11 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_space_tab)
     char input[] = " \tHello World";
     char expected_str[] = "Hello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 2;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_2tab_1space)
@@ -58,10 +62,11 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_2tab_1space)
     char input[] = "\t \tHello World";
     char expected_str[] = "Hello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 3;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_a_lot)
@@ -69,10 +74,11 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_a_lot)
     char input[] = "\t   \t  \tHello World";
     char expected_str[] = "Hello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 8;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_newline)
@@ -80,18 +86,20 @@ Test(string_utils, skipblank_newline)
     char input[] = "\nHello World";
     char expected_str[] = "\nHello World";
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 0;
-    cr_expect(eq(str, input, expected_str));
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(eq(str, trimmed, expected_str));
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }
 
 Test(string_utils, skipblank_nul)
 {
     char *input = NULL;
 
-    ssize_t actual = skip_blanks(input);
+    char *trimmed = trim_blank_left(input);
+    ssize_t offset = trimmed - input;
     ssize_t expected = 0;
     cr_expect(input == NULL);
-    cr_expect(actual == expected);
+    cr_expect(offset == expected);
 }