diff --git a/src/de/map.rs b/src/de/map.rs
index 2c1e8953..25103000 100644
--- a/src/de/map.rs
+++ b/src/de/map.rs
@@ -273,7 +273,14 @@ where
                 QNameDeserializer::from_attr(QName(&slice[key]), decoder, &mut self.de.key_buf)?;
             seed.deserialize(de).map(Some)
         } else {
-            self.skip_whitespaces()?;
+            // If we have dedicated "$text" field, whitespace-only text may be significant.
+            // That also means, that type with `$text` fields behaves as if its element has
+            // `xml:space="preserve"` attribute: you must not have pretty-print indents
+            // inside this element.
+            if !self.has_text_field {
+                self.skip_whitespaces()?;
+            }
+
             // try getting from events (<key>value</key>)
             match self.de.peek()? {
                 // If we have dedicated "$text" field, it will not be passed to "$value" field
diff --git a/src/de/mod.rs b/src/de/mod.rs
index 7671985b..99dd63fa 100644
--- a/src/de/mod.rs
+++ b/src/de/mod.rs
@@ -4641,6 +4641,15 @@ mod tests {
                     assert_eq!(de.next().unwrap(), DeEvent::Eof);
                 }
 
+                #[test]
+                fn space() {
+                    let mut de = make_de("<tag> </tag>");
+                    assert_eq!(de.next().unwrap(), DeEvent::Start(BytesStart::new("tag")));
+                    assert_eq!(de.next().unwrap(), DeEvent::Text(" ".into()));
+                    assert_eq!(de.next().unwrap(), DeEvent::End(BytesEnd::new("tag")));
+                    assert_eq!(de.next().unwrap(), DeEvent::Eof);
+                }
+
                 // start::text::text has no difference from start::text
 
                 #[test]
diff --git a/tests/serde-de-seq.rs b/tests/serde-de-seq.rs
index d8287ba6..fa63f23c 100644
--- a/tests/serde-de-seq.rs
+++ b/tests/serde-de-seq.rs
@@ -831,14 +831,7 @@ mod fixed_name {
             }
 
             from_str::<List>(
-                r#"
-                <root>
-                    <item/>
-                    <item/>
-                    text
-                    <![CDATA[cdata]]>
-                </root>
-                "#,
+                r#"<root><item/><item/>text<![CDATA[cdata]]></root>"#,
             )
             .unwrap();
         }
@@ -1688,14 +1681,7 @@ mod fixed_name {
             }
 
             let data: List = from_str(
-                r#"
-                <root>
-                    <item/>
-                    <item/>
-                    text
-                    <![CDATA[cdata]]>
-                </root>
-                "#,
+                r#"<root><item/><item/>text<![CDATA[cdata]]></root>"#,
             )
             .unwrap();
 
@@ -2946,14 +2932,7 @@ mod variable_name {
             }
 
             from_str::<List>(
-                r#"
-                <root>
-                    <item/>
-                    <item/>
-                    text
-                    <![CDATA[cdata]]>
-                </root>
-                "#,
+                r#"<root><item/><item/>text<![CDATA[cdata]]></root>"#,
             )
             .unwrap();
         }
@@ -4015,14 +3994,7 @@ mod variable_name {
             }
 
             let data: List = from_str(
-                r#"
-                <root>
-                    <item/>
-                    <item/>
-                    text
-                    <![CDATA[cdata]]>
-                </root>
-                "#,
+                r#"<root><item/><item/>text<![CDATA[cdata]]></root>"#,
             )
             .unwrap();
 
diff --git a/tests/serde-de.rs b/tests/serde-de.rs
index cc82d5f6..da171401 100644
--- a/tests/serde-de.rs
+++ b/tests/serde-de.rs
@@ -45,12 +45,30 @@ mod text {
             content: String,
         }
 
-        let item: Item = from_str(r#"<root>content</root>"#).unwrap();
+        let item: Item = from_str(r#"<root>content </root>"#).unwrap();
 
         assert_eq!(
             item,
             Item {
-                content: "content".into()
+                content: "content ".into()
+            }
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn explicit_space() {
+        #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+        struct Item {
+            #[serde(rename = "$text")]
+            content: String,
+        }
+
+        let item: Item = from_str(r#"<root> </root>"#).unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            item,
+            Item {
+                content: " ".into()
             }
         );
     }