diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/Parsers.scala b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/Parsers.scala
index f1c6e57..72dc93d 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/Parsers.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/Parsers.scala
@@ -21,8 +21,13 @@ trait Parsers {
   
   def rep1[A](p: Parser[A]) = p+
   
-  protected def processTail(tail: LineStream) = if (tail.isEmpty) Some(tail) else None
-  
+  private def processTail(tail: LineStream) = {
+    val preProcessed = preProcess(tail)
+    if (preProcessed.isEmpty) Some(preProcessed) else None
+  }
+
+  protected def preProcess(s: LineStream) = s
+
   private def canonicalize(str: String) = str.foldLeft("") { (back, c) =>
     val tack = c match {
       case '\n' => "\\n"
@@ -325,7 +330,7 @@ trait Parsers {
   trait TerminalParser[+R] extends Parser[R] { self =>
     final val terminal = true
     
-    final def apply(in: LineStream) = Stream(parse(in) match {
+    final def apply(in: LineStream) = Stream(parse(preProcess(in)) match {
       case Success(res, tail) => processTail(tail) match {
         case Some(tail) => Success(res, tail)
         case None => Failure(UnexpectedTrailingChars(canonicalize(tail.mkString)), tail)
@@ -338,7 +343,7 @@ trait Parsers {
      * For terminal parsing, this just delegates back to apply()
      */
     def chain(t: Trampoline, in: LineStream)(f: Result[R] => Unit) {
-      f(parse(in))
+      f(parse(preProcess(in)))
     }
     
     protected[gll] def parse(in: LineStream): Result[R]
@@ -366,8 +371,8 @@ trait Parsers {
             }
           }
           
-          def parse(in: LineStream) = self.parse(in) match {
-            case Success(res1, tail) => other.parse(tail) match {
+          def parse(in: LineStream) = self.parse(preProcess(in)) match {
+            case Success(res1, tail) => other.parse(preProcess(tail)) match {
               case Success(res2, tail) => Success(new ~(res1, res2), tail)
               case f: Failure => f
             }
@@ -398,9 +403,12 @@ trait Parsers {
     }
     
     def mapWithTail[R2](f: (LineStream, R) => R2): Parser[R2] = new MappedParser[R, R2](self, f) with TerminalParser[R2] {
-      def parse(in: LineStream) = self.parse(in) match {
-        case Success(res, tail) => Success(f(in, res), tail)
-        case x: Failure => x
+      def parse(in: LineStream) = {
+        val preProcessed = preProcess(in)
+        self.parse(preProcessed) match {
+          case Success(res, tail) => Success(f(preProcessed, res), tail)
+          case x: Failure => x
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/RegexParsers.scala b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/RegexParsers.scala
index 5f5ca55..7c45042 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/RegexParsers.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/gll/RegexParsers.scala
@@ -17,9 +17,6 @@ trait RegexParsers extends Parsers {
           val wsFirst = if (skipWhitespace) RegexUtils.first(whitespace) else Set[Option[Char]]()
           Some((wsFirst - None) ++ (super.computeFirst(seen) getOrElse Set[Option[Char]]()))
         }
-        
-        // there should be a way to do this with traits, but I haven't found it yet
-        override def parse(s: LineStream) = super.parse(handleWhitespace(s))
       }
     } else super.literal(str)
   }
@@ -27,7 +24,7 @@ trait RegexParsers extends Parsers {
   implicit def regex(r: Regex): RegexParser = {
     if (skipWhitespace) {
       new RegexParser(r) {
-        override def parse(s: LineStream) = super.parse(handleWhitespace(s))
+        override def parse(s: LineStream) = super.parse(s)
       }
     } else new RegexParser(r)
   }
@@ -40,15 +37,6 @@ trait RegexParsers extends Parsers {
   
   implicit def funRegexSyntax(p: Regex) = new RichSyntax1(regex(p))
   
-  override protected def processTail(tail: LineStream) = {
-    val newTail = if (skipWhitespace)
-      handleWhitespace(tail)
-    else
-      tail
-    
-    super.processTail(newTail)
-  }
-  
   private def escapeRegex(str: String) = {
     val specialChars = Set('[', ']', '{', '}', '\\', '|', '*', '+', '?', '^', '$', '(', ')')
     
@@ -59,8 +47,8 @@ trait RegexParsers extends Parsers {
         str + c
     }
   }
-  
-  private def handleWhitespace(s: LineStream) =
+
+  override protected def preProcess(s: LineStream) =
     s.drop(whitespace findPrefixOf s map { _.length } getOrElse 0)
   
   
diff --git a/src/test/scala/RegexSpecs.scala b/src/test/scala/RegexSpecs.scala
index 91fc8dc..fc21e11 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/RegexSpecs.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/RegexSpecs.scala
@@ -77,6 +77,17 @@ object RegexSpecs extends Specification with ScalaCheck with RegexParsers {
         }
       }
     }
+
+    "produce a location of after leading whitespace" in {
+      case class A(loc: LineStream, x: String)
+
+      val p = literal("daniel") ^# { (loc, x) => A(loc, x) }
+
+      p("    daniel") must beLike {
+        case Success(A(l, "daniel"), LineStream()) #:: SNil => l.colNum == 5 && l.toString == "daniel"
+        case _ => false
+      }
+    }
     
     "eat leading whitespace" in {
       val p = literal("daniel")