diff --git a/lib/MetaCPAN/Web/Controller/Search.pm b/lib/MetaCPAN/Web/Controller/Search.pm
index ddbbf96952..a69560f0f3 100644
--- a/lib/MetaCPAN/Web/Controller/Search.pm
+++ b/lib/MetaCPAN/Web/Controller/Search.pm
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ sub index : Path : Args(0) {
         $query =~ s{\.pm\b}{};
     }
 
+    $query =~ s/^\s+//;
+    $query =~ s/\s+$//;
+
     my $model = $c->model('API::Module');
     my $from  = ( $req->page - 1 ) * $page_size;
     if (
diff --git a/t/controller/search/precision.t b/t/controller/search/precision.t
index 77dffc81a4..62d04563a2 100644
--- a/t/controller/search/precision.t
+++ b/t/controller/search/precision.t
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ my %tests = (
     'dbix class resultset' => 'DBIx::Class::ResultSet',
 );
 
+my %authors = (
+    '  LLAP   ' => 'LLAP',
+    'PERLER   ' => 'PERLER',
+    '    NEILB' => 'NEILB',
+    'RWSTAUNER' => 'RWSTAUNER',
+    ' OALDERS ' => 'OALDERS',
+);
+
 test_psgi app, sub {
     my $cb = shift;
     for my $k ( sort keys %tests ) {
@@ -29,6 +37,17 @@ test_psgi app, sub {
             '//div[@class="module-result"][1]/big[1]//a[1]');
         is( $module, $v, "$v is first result" );
     }
+
+    for my $k ( sort keys %authors ) {
+        ok( my $res = $cb->( GET "/search?q=$k" ), qq{search for "$k"} );
+        my $v  = $authors{$k};
+        my $tx = tx($res);
+        my $author
+            = $tx->find_value(
+            '//div[@class="author-results"]/ul[@class="authors clearfix"]/li[1]/a[1]'
+            );
+        like( $author, qr/\b$v\b/, "$v is first result" );
+    }
 };
 
 done_testing;