diff --git a/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js b/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
index 5d378b02cac3..e669e77a63b1 100644
--- a/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
+++ b/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
@@ -360,25 +360,27 @@ function htmlParser( html, handler ) {
   }
 }
 
+var hiddenPre=document.createElement("pre");
+var spaceRe = /^(\s*)([\s\S]*?)(\s*)$/;
 /**
  * decodes all entities into regular string
  * @param value
  * @returns {string} A string with decoded entities.
  */
-var hiddenPre=document.createElement("pre");
 function decodeEntities(value) {
-  if (!value) {
-    return '';
-  }
+  if (!value) { return ''; }
+
   // Note: IE8 does not preserve spaces at the start/end of innerHTML
-  var spaceRe = /^(\s*)([\s\S]*?)(\s*)$/;
+  // so we must capture them and reattach them afterward
   var parts = spaceRe.exec(value);
-  parts[0] = '';
-  if (parts[2]) {
-    hiddenPre.innerHTML=parts[2].replace(/</g,"&lt;");
-    parts[2] = hiddenPre.innerText || hiddenPre.textContent;
+  var spaceBefore = parts[1];
+  var spaceAfter = parts[3];
+  var content = parts[2];
+  if (content) {
+    hiddenPre.innerHTML=content.replace(/</g,"&lt;");
+    content = hiddenPre.innerText || hiddenPre.textContent;
   }
-  return parts.join('');
+  return spaceBefore + content + spaceAfter;
 }
 
 /**