diff --git a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/JDOMUtil.java b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/JDOMUtil.java
index e6d3f3361e10..325ed8d0b7b4 100644
--- a/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/JDOMUtil.java
+++ b/platform/util/src/com/intellij/openapi/util/JDOMUtil.java
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ public class JDOMUtil {
           return new InputSource(new CharArrayReader(ArrayUtil.EMPTY_CHAR_ARRAY));
         }
       });
+      saxBuilder.setIgnoringBoundaryWhitespace(true);
       ourSaxBuilder.set(new SoftReference<SAXBuilder>(saxBuilder));
     }
     return saxBuilder;