diff --git a/Changelog.md b/Changelog.md
index c46c92254..7f75719fb 100644
--- a/Changelog.md
+++ b/Changelog.md
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ The keys will still be available in the root level within the 0.5 release. The o
 * Increase possible captcha length [#5169](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5169)
 * Display visibility icon in publisher aspects dropdown [#4982](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/4982)
 * Add a link to the reported comment in the admin panel [#5337](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5337)
+* Strip search query from leading and trailing whitespace [#5317](https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora/pull/5317)
 
 # 0.4.1.1
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/search_controller.rb b/app/controllers/search_controller.rb
index 6c2f43474..f3a320615 100644
--- a/app/controllers/search_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/search_controller.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class SearchController < ApplicationController
   private
   
   def search_query
-    @search_query ||= params[:q] || params[:term] || ''
+    @search_query ||= (params[:q] || params[:term] || '').strip
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/search_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/search_controller_spec.rb
index 5ec4baf6d..bc07db4ae 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/search_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/search_controller_spec.rb
@@ -35,5 +35,16 @@ describe SearchController, :type => :controller do
     end
   end
 
+  describe '#search_query' do
+    it 'strips the term parameter' do
+      @controller.params[:term] = ' IN SPACE! '
+      expect(@controller.send(:search_query)).to eq 'IN SPACE!'
+    end
+
+    it 'strips the q parameter' do
+      @controller.params[:q] = ' IN SPACE! '
+      expect(@controller.send(:search_query)).to eq 'IN SPACE!'
+    end
+  end
 
 end