diff --git a/lib/mock/test_bed.dart b/lib/mock/test_bed.dart
index d1c54da81..ccefe3fac 100644
--- a/lib/mock/test_bed.dart
+++ b/lib/mock/test_bed.dart
@@ -54,12 +54,23 @@ class TestBed {
     return rootElement;
   }
 
+  String _handleWhitespace(html) {
+    return html
+        .split('\n')
+        .map((line) {
+          var trimmed = line.trim();
+          return trimmed +
+              (trimmed.isEmpty || trimmed.endsWith('>') ? '' : ' ');
+        })
+        .join();
+  }
   /**
    * Convert an [html] String to a [List] of [Element]s.
    */
   List<Element> toNodeList(html) {
     var div = new DivElement();
-    div.setInnerHtml(html, treeSanitizer: new NullTreeSanitizer());
+    var sanitizedHtml = _handleWhitespace(html);
+    div.setInnerHtml(sanitizedHtml, treeSanitizer: new NullTreeSanitizer());
     var nodes = [];
     for (var node in div.nodes) {
       nodes.add(node);
diff --git a/test/mock/test_bed_spec.dart b/test/mock/test_bed_spec.dart
index 661c5f4ac..5c1ea4276 100644
--- a/test/mock/test_bed_spec.dart
+++ b/test/mock/test_bed_spec.dart
@@ -27,6 +27,24 @@ void main() {
       expect(directiveInst.destroyed).toBe(true);
     });
 
+    it('should handle whitespace cleanly', () {
+      var root = _.compile('''
+        <div>
+          <h1
+             attr="Hi">
+          </h1>
+        </div>
+      <span  
+       attr2="Bye"
+
+      ></span>
+      ''');
+
+      expect(root.runtimeType).toBe(DivElement);
+      expect(_.rootElements[1].runtimeType).toBe(SpanElement);
+      expect(_.rootElements.length).toBe(2);
+    });
+
   });
 }