diff --git a/src/xmlctrl.cpp b/src/xmlctrl.cpp
index 7e8ed0f..bd1bc7c 100644
--- a/src/xmlctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/xmlctrl.cpp
@@ -622,9 +622,9 @@ void XmlCtrl::handleSpace ( wxKeyEvent& event )
 		return;
 	}
 
-	int style = getLexerStyleAt ( pos - 1 );
-
-	char c = GetCharAt ( pos - 1 );
+	int prevPos;
+	char c = getPrevNonSpaceChar ( pos, &prevPos );
+	int style = getLexerStyleAt ( prevPos );
 
 	bool proceed = false;
 	// space pressed after element name
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ void XmlCtrl::handleSpace ( wxKeyEvent& event )
 	    ( style == wxSTC_H_DOUBLESTRING ||
 	      style == wxSTC_H_SINGLESTRING ) &&
 	    ( c == '\'' || c == '"' ) &&
-	    GetCharAt ( pos - 2 ) != '=' )
+	    getPrevNonSpaceChar ( prevPos - 1, NULL ) != '=' )
 	{
 		proceed = true;
 	}
@@ -2403,3 +2403,20 @@ void XmlCtrl::OnKillFocus ( wxFocusEvent &event )
 	AutoCompCancel();
 	event.Skip();
 }
+
+int XmlCtrl::getPrevNonSpaceChar ( int curPos, int *charPos )
+{
+	int c = 0;
+	int pos = curPos;
+	while ( pos-- > 0 )
+	{
+		c = GetCharAt ( pos );
+		if ( !wxIsspace ( c ) )
+			break;
+	}
+
+	if ( charPos )
+		*charPos = pos;
+
+	return c;
+}
diff --git a/src/xmlctrl.h b/src/xmlctrl.h
index 3c1d3f0..aa4f432 100644
--- a/src/xmlctrl.h
+++ b/src/xmlctrl.h
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ class XmlCtrl: public wxStyledTextCtrl
 		bool selectCurrentElement();
 		void toggleComment();
 		wxString getCurrentXPath();
+		int getPrevNonSpaceChar ( int curPos, int *charPos );
 	private:
 		ValidationThread *validationThread; // used for background validation
 		XmlPromptGenerator *mPromptGeneratorThread;