diff --git a/edc_qareports/utils.py b/edc_qareports/utils.py
index 1f5adc4..f7f5d0e 100644
--- a/edc_qareports/utils.py
+++ b/edc_qareports/utils.py
@@ -10,6 +10,15 @@ def read_unmanaged_model_sql(
 ) -> str:
     if not fullpath:
         fullpath = Path(settings.BASE_DIR) / app_name / "models" / "unmanaged" / filename
+
+    parsed_sql = []
     with fullpath.open("r") as f:
-        sql = f.read()
-    return sql.replace("\n", " ")
+        for line in f:
+            line = line.split("#", maxsplit=1)[0]
+            line = line.split("-- ", maxsplit=1)[0]
+            line = line.replace("\n", "")
+            line = line.strip()
+            if line:
+                parsed_sql.append(line)
+
+    return " ".join(parsed_sql)