diff --git a/lib/chef/knife/ec2_server_create.rb b/lib/chef/knife/ec2_server_create.rb
index 23eb5957..a431b4ab 100644
--- a/lib/chef/knife/ec2_server_create.rb
+++ b/lib/chef/knife/ec2_server_create.rb
@@ -67,9 +67,20 @@ class Ec2ServerCreate < Knife
         :proc => Proc.new { |groups| groups.split(',') }
 
       option :security_group_ids,
-        :short => "-g 'X,Y,Z'",
-        :long => "--security-group-ids 'X,Y,Z'",
-        :description => "The security group ids for this server; required when using VPC,Please provide values in format --security-group-ids 'X,Y,Z'"
+        :short => "-g SECURITY_GROUP_IDS",
+        :long => "--security-group-ids",
+        :description => "The security group ids for this server; required when using VPC. Mulitple values can be provide as -g sg-e985168d -g sg-e858768d",
+        :proc => Proc.new { |security_group_ids|
+          require 'pry'
+          binding.pry
+          if security_group_ids.split(',').size > 1
+            Chef::Log.error("[DEPRECATED] Comma separated values for --security-group-ids is deprecated. Provide --security-group-ids option multiple times if mulitple values has to be provided. for e.g. --security-group-ids sg-e985168d --security-group-ids sg-e7f06383 --security-group-ids sg-ec1b7e88 .")
+            exit 1
+          end
+          Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids] ||= []
+          Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids].push(security_group_ids)
+          Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids]
+        }
 
       option :associate_eip,
         :long => "--associate-eip IP_ADDRESS",
@@ -857,16 +868,9 @@ def validate!
           exit 1
         end
 
-        # Validation for security_group_ids. It will raise error if security_group_ids provided by user are not
-        # comma seprated values, if it includes any special character other than '-', and if the values are provided
-        # in other than string format.
+        # Validation for security_group_ids passed through knife.rb. It will raise error if values are not provided in Array.
         if locate_config_value(:security_group_ids) && locate_config_value(:security_group_ids).class == String
-          if !locate_config_value(:security_group_ids).index(/[~$;@#'*&!.=^%\[\]\{\}\(\)\|\/\\]/).nil?
-            ui.error("Invalid input for --security-group-ids. --security-group-ids must be comma separated values. e.g 'x,y,z'")
-            exit 1
-          end
-        elsif locate_config_value(:security_group_ids) && locate_config_value(:security_group_ids).class != String
-          ui.error("Invalid input for --security-group-ids. --security-group-ids must be comma separated values. e.g 'x,y,z'")
+          ui.error("Invalid value type for knife[:security_group_ids] in knife configuration file (i.e knife.rb). Type should be array. e.g - knife[:security_group_ids] = ['sgroup1']")
           exit 1
         end
 
@@ -1005,7 +1009,7 @@ def create_server_def
           :request_type => locate_config_value(:spot_request_type)
         }
 
-        server_def[:security_group_ids] = locate_config_value(:security_group_ids).gsub(' ', '').split(',') unless locate_config_value(:security_group_ids).nil?
+        server_def[:security_group_ids] = locate_config_value(:security_group_ids)
         server_def[:subnet_id] = locate_config_value(:subnet_id) if vpc_mode?
         server_def[:private_ip_address] = locate_config_value(:private_ip_address) if vpc_mode?
         server_def[:placement_group] = locate_config_value(:placement_group)
diff --git a/spec/unit/ec2_server_create_spec.rb b/spec/unit/ec2_server_create_spec.rb
index 94c11416..e33e1800 100644
--- a/spec/unit/ec2_server_create_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/ec2_server_create_spec.rb
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@
           :flavor_id => nil,
           :key_name => "ssh_key_name",
           :availability_zone => nil,
+          :security_group_ids => nil,
           :price => 0.001,
           :request_type => 'persistent',
           :placement_group => nil,
@@ -1159,7 +1160,7 @@
     end
 
     it "sets the specified security group ids" do
-      @knife_ec2_create.config[:security_group_ids] = 'sg-aabbccdd, sg-3764sdss,  sg-aab343ytre'
+      @knife_ec2_create.config[:security_group_ids] = ['sg-aabbccdd', 'sg-3764sdss',  'sg-aab343ytre']
       server_def = @knife_ec2_create.create_server_def
 
       expect(server_def[:security_group_ids]).to eq(['sg-aabbccdd', 'sg-3764sdss', 'sg-aab343ytre'])
@@ -2191,35 +2192,36 @@
     describe "--security-group-ids option" do
       before do
         allow(Fog::Compute::AWS).to receive(:new).and_return(@ec2_connection)
+        Chef::Config.reset
       end
 
       context "when invalid input is given for --security-group-ids from cli" do
+        let(:ec2_server_create) { Chef::Knife::Ec2ServerCreate.new(['-g', 'sg-aabbccdd,sg-3764sdss,sg-00aa11bb'])}
         it "raises error" do
-          @knife_ec2_create.config[:security_group_ids] = 'sg-aabbccdd; sg-3764sdss ; sg-00aa11bb'
-          expect { @knife_ec2_create.validate! }.to raise_error(SystemExit)
+          expect { ec2_server_create }.to raise_error(SystemExit)
         end
       end
 
       context "when valid input is given --security-group-ids from cli" do
         it "does not raise error" do
-          @knife_ec2_create.config[:security_group_ids] = 'sg-aabbccdd, sg-3764sdss, sg-00aa11bb'
-          expect { @knife_ec2_create.validate! }.to_not raise_error
+           let(:ec2_server_create) { Chef::Knife::Ec2ServerCreate.new(['-g', sg-aabbccdd, '-g', sg-aabbccdd])}
+           expect { ec2_server_create }.to_not raise_error
         end
       end
 
-      context "when invalid input is given for --security-group-ids from knife.rb" do
-        it "raises error" do
-          Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids] = ['sg-aabbccdd', 'sg-3764sdss', 'sg-00aa11bb']
-          expect { @knife_ec2_create.validate! }.to raise_error(SystemExit)
-        end
-      end
+      # context "when invalid input is given for --security-group-ids from knife.rb" do
+      #   it "raises error" do
+      #     Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids] = 'sg-aabbccdd, sg-3764sdss, sg-00aa11bb'
+      #     expect { @knife_ec2_create.validate! }.to raise_error(SystemExit)
+      #   end
+      # end
 
-      context "when valid input is given for --security-group-ids from knife.rb" do
-        it "does not raise error" do
-          Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids] = 'sg-aabbccdd, sg-3764sdss, sg-00aa11bb'
-          expect { @knife_ec2_create.validate! }.to_not raise_error
-        end
-      end
+      # context "when valid input is given for --security-group-ids from knife.rb" do
+      #   it "does not raise error" do
+      #     Chef::Config[:knife][:security_group_ids] = 'sg-aabbccdd, sg-3764sdss, sg-00aa11bb'
+      #     expect { @knife_ec2_create.validate! }.to_not raise_error
+      #   end
+      # end
     end
   end
 end