diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 9b62eb62..73f559df 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,14 @@ Features:
   ``__version_info__`` constants from ``__init__.py`` file. Users should use
   ``importlib.metadata`` instead (:pr:`1024`).
 
+Bug fixes:
+
+* Fix the Tornado parser treating a repeated header as a sequence of
+  characters: Tornado joins repeated headers into a single comma-separated
+  string, so loading such a header into a ``List`` field produced a list of
+  single-character strings. It is now loaded as a single value, matching the
+  other parsers (:pr:`1108`).
+
 Other changes:
 
 
diff --git a/src/webargs/tornadoparser.py b/src/webargs/tornadoparser.py
index 1b0c73d8..3129fbd2 100644
--- a/src/webargs/tornadoparser.py
+++ b/src/webargs/tornadoparser.py
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ def __getitem__(self, key: str) -> typing.Any:
             if value is core.missing:
                 return core.missing
             if key in self.multiple_keys:
+                # A str or bytes value is a single value, not a sequence of
+                # them: Tornado joins repeated headers into one comma-separated
+                # string (e.g. "a, b"), and iterating over it would yield its
+                # characters. Only genuine sequences are expanded.
+                if isinstance(value, (str, bytes)):
+                    return [_unicode(value)]
                 return [
                     _unicode(v) if isinstance(v, (str, bytes)) else v for v in value
                 ]
diff --git a/tests/test_tornadoparser.py b/tests/test_tornadoparser.py
index ee92eadd..2898ff06 100644
--- a/tests/test_tornadoparser.py
+++ b/tests/test_tornadoparser.py
@@ -171,6 +171,20 @@ def test_it_should_get_multiple_values(self):
         result = parser.load_headers(request, author_schema)
         assert result["works"] == ["Prometheus Bound", "Prometheus Unbound"]
 
+    def test_it_should_treat_a_repeated_header_as_one_value(self):
+        # Tornado collects repeated headers into a single comma-separated
+        # string, so a List field must see one value and not the string's
+        # characters.
+        headers = tornado.httputil.HTTPHeaders()
+        headers.add("name", "Euphorion")
+        headers.add("works", "Prometheus Bound")
+        headers.add("works", "Prometheus Unbound")
+        assert headers["works"] == "Prometheus Bound,Prometheus Unbound"
+
+        request = make_request(headers=headers)
+        result = parser.load_headers(request, author_schema)
+        assert result["works"] == ["Prometheus Bound,Prometheus Unbound"]
+
     def test_it_should_return_missing_if_not_present(self):
         request = make_request()
         result = parser.load_headers(request, author_schema)