diff --git a/lib/liquid/tags/if.rb b/lib/liquid/tags/if.rb
index f0cd4dbb4..3b7773258 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/tags/if.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/tags/if.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module Liquid
   class If < Block
     SyntaxHelp = "Syntax Error in tag 'if' - Valid syntax: if [expression]"
     Syntax = /(#{QuotedFragment})\s*([=!<>a-z_]+)?\s*(#{QuotedFragment})?/
-    ExpressionsAndOperators = /(?:\b(?:and|or)\b|(?:\s*(?!\b(?:and|or)\b)(?:#{QuotedFragment}|\S+)\s*)+)/
+    ExpressionsAndOperators = /(?:\b(?:\s?and\s?|\s?or\s?)\b|(?:\s*(?!\b(?:\s?and\s?|\s?or\s?)\b)(?:#{QuotedFragment}|\S+)\s*)+)/
 
     def initialize(tag_name, markup, tokens)
       @blocks = []
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def push_block(tag, markup)
           condition = Condition.new($1, $2, $3)
 
           while not expressions.empty?
-            operator = expressions.shift
+            operator = (expressions.shift).to_s.strip
 
             raise(SyntaxError, SyntaxHelp) unless expressions.shift.to_s =~ Syntax
 
diff --git a/test/lib/liquid/tags/if_else_test.rb b/test/lib/liquid/tags/if_else_test.rb
index 5b4eb31a8..cd5427b22 100644
--- a/test/lib/liquid/tags/if_else_test.rb
+++ b/test/lib/liquid/tags/if_else_test.rb
@@ -151,9 +151,10 @@ def test_if_with_custom_condition
     Condition.operators.delete 'contains'
   end
 
-  # def test_operators_are_ignored_unless_isolated
-  #   Condition.operators['contains'] = :[]
-  # 
-  #   assert_template_result('yes', %({% if 'gnomeslab' == 'gnomeslab' %}yes{% endif %}))
-  # end
+  def test_operators_are_ignored_unless_isolated
+    Condition.operators['contains'] = :[]
+
+    assert_template_result('yes',
+                           %({% if 'gnomeslab-and-or-liquid' contains 'gnomeslab-and-or-liquid' %}yes{% endif %}))
+  end
 end # IfElseTest