diff --git a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/utils.js b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/utils.js
index 4c5b6d3d9c4..f81c7d48de1 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/utils.js
+++ b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/utils.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ IPython.utils = (function (IPython) {
             txt = txt.replace(re, closer + opener)
         }
         if (opened) txt += "</span>"
-        return txt.trim()
+        return txt
     }