diff --git a/phpBB/includes/bbcode.php b/phpBB/includes/bbcode.php
index a360bcd5d1..4d064a838b 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/bbcode.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/bbcode.php
@@ -584,6 +584,13 @@ class bbcode
 				$code = str_replace("\t", '   ', $code);
 				$code = str_replace('  ', '  ', $code);
 				$code = str_replace('  ', '  ', $code);
+				$code = str_replace("\n ", "\n ", $code);
+
+				// keep space at the beginning
+				if (!empty($code) && $code[0] == ' ')
+				{
+					$code = ' ' . substr($code, 1);
+				}
 
 				// remove newline at the beginning
 				if (!empty($code) && $code[0] == "\n")