diff --git a/lib/workflow/job.go b/lib/workflow/job.go
index 01a4c55..09e8982 100644
--- a/lib/workflow/job.go
+++ b/lib/workflow/job.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func (ea *ErrorAction) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
 	switch lowered {
 	case "continue":
 		*ea = ErrorActionContinue
-	case "stop-job":
+	case "", "stop-job":
 		*ea = ErrorActionStopJob
 	case "stop-action":
 		*ea = ErrorActionStopAction
diff --git a/lib/workflow/job_test.go b/lib/workflow/job_test.go
index 107dd02..1459de4 100644
--- a/lib/workflow/job_test.go
+++ b/lib/workflow/job_test.go
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@ func TestErrorAction_UnmarshalYAML(t *testing.T) {
 			input: []byte(`E: `),
 			want:  ErrorActionStopJob,
 		},
+		{
+			name:  "whitespace only is stop-job",
+			input: []byte(`E: "   "`),
+			want:  ErrorActionStopJob,
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "empty is stop-job",
+			input: []byte(`E: ""`),
+			want:  ErrorActionStopJob,
+		},
 		{
 			name:  "unset is stop-job 2",
 			input: []byte(`foo: bar`),