diff --git a/R/util.R b/R/util.R
index fb83abe..26d593d 100644
--- a/R/util.R
+++ b/R/util.R
@@ -45,11 +45,7 @@
 }
 
 latex_row_cells <- function(x) {
-  out <- strsplit(x, " \\& ")
-  if (substr(x, nchar(x) - 2, nchar(x)) == " & ") {
-    out <- c(out, "")
-  }
-  return(out)
+  stringr::str_split(x, " \\& ")
 }
 
 regex_escape <- function(x, double_backslash = FALSE) {