diff --git a/gui/qt/main_window.py b/gui/qt/main_window.py
index 26ccf6aba..7cbbba2a7 100644
--- a/gui/qt/main_window.py
+++ b/gui/qt/main_window.py
@@ -2414,7 +2414,7 @@ class ElectrumWindow(QMainWindow, MessageBoxMixin, PrintError):
         vbox = QVBoxLayout(d)
         vbox.addWidget(QLabel(_("Enter private keys:")))
 
-        keys_e = ScanQRTextEdit()
+        keys_e = ScanQRTextEdit(allow_multi=True)
         keys_e.setTabChangesFocus(True)
         vbox.addWidget(keys_e)
 
@@ -2464,7 +2464,8 @@ class ElectrumWindow(QMainWindow, MessageBoxMixin, PrintError):
         self.warn_if_watching_only()
 
     def _do_import(self, title, msg, func):
-        text = text_dialog(self, title, msg + ' :', _('Import'))
+        text = text_dialog(self, title, msg + ' :', _('Import'),
+                           allow_multi=True)
         if not text:
             return
         bad = []
diff --git a/gui/qt/util.py b/gui/qt/util.py
index f1f2d0bd2..2d2626a18 100644
--- a/gui/qt/util.py
+++ b/gui/qt/util.py
@@ -251,14 +251,14 @@ def line_dialog(parent, title, label, ok_label, default=None):
     if dialog.exec_():
         return txt.text()
 
-def text_dialog(parent, title, label, ok_label, default=None):
+def text_dialog(parent, title, label, ok_label, default=None, allow_multi=False):
     from .qrtextedit import ScanQRTextEdit
     dialog = WindowModalDialog(parent, title)
     dialog.setMinimumWidth(500)
     l = QVBoxLayout()
     dialog.setLayout(l)
     l.addWidget(QLabel(label))
-    txt = ScanQRTextEdit()
+    txt = ScanQRTextEdit(allow_multi=allow_multi)
     if default:
         txt.setText(default)
     l.addWidget(txt)