diff --git a/filter/censor/filter.php b/filter/censor/filter.php
index 3a3fd53bc1b5b..121960a3755d5 100644
--- a/filter/censor/filter.php
+++ b/filter/censor/filter.php
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ function censor_filter($courseid, $text) {
         $words = array();
         $badwords = explode(',', get_string('censorbadwords'));
         foreach ($badwords as $badword) {
-            $words[] = new filterobject($badword, '<span class="censoredtext">', '</span>', false, false);
+            $words[] = new filterobject(trim($badword), '<span class="censoredtext">', '</span>', false, false);
         }
     }