diff --git a/packages/tableofcontents/init.lua b/packages/tableofcontents/init.lua
index cf6bf1ea98..4fc88dec7c 100644
--- a/packages/tableofcontents/init.lua
+++ b/packages/tableofcontents/init.lua
@@ -58,26 +58,39 @@ end
 -- (Similar to SU.contentToString(), but allows passing typeset
 -- objects to functions that need plain strings).
 local function _nodesToText (nodes)
+  -- A real interword space width depends on several settings (depending on variable
+  -- spaces being enabled or not, etc.), and the computation below takes that into
+  -- account.
+  local iwspc = SILE.shaper:measureSpace(SILE.font.loadDefaults({}))
+  local iwspcmin = (iwspc.length - iwspc.shrink):tonumber()
+
   local string = ""
   for i = 1, #nodes do
     local node = nodes[i]
     if node.is_nnode or node.is_unshaped then
       string = string .. node:toText()
-    elseif node.is_glue then
-      -- Not so sure about this one...
-      if node.width:tonumber() > 0 then
+    elseif node.is_glue or node.is_kern then
+      -- What we want to avoid is "small" glues or kerns to be expanded as full
+      -- spaces.
+      -- Comparing them to half of the smallest width of a possibly shrinkable
+      -- interword space is fairly fragile and empirical: the content could contain
+      -- font changes, so the comparison is wrong in the general case.
+      -- It's a simplistic approach. We cannot really be sure what a "space" meant
+      -- at the point where the kern or glue got absolutized.
+      if node.width:tonumber() > iwspcmin * 0.5 then
         string = string .. " "
       end
     elseif not (node.is_zerohbox or node.is_migrating) then
       -- Here, typically, the main case is an hbox.
-      -- Even if extracting its content could be possible in regular cases
-      -- (e.g. \raise), we cannot take a general decision, as it is a versatile
-      -- object (e.g. \rebox) and its outputYourself could moreover have been
-      -- redefine to do fancy things. Better warn and skip.
+      -- Even if extracting its content could be possible in some regular cases
+      -- we cannot take a general decision, as it is a versatile object  and its
+      -- outputYourself() method could moreover have been redefined to do fancy
+      -- things. Better warn and skip.
       SU.warn("Some content could not be converted to text: "..node)
     end
   end
-  return string
+  -- Trim leading and trailing spaces, and simplify internal spaces.
+  return pl.stringx.strip(string):gsub("%s%s+", " ")
 end
 
 if not SILE.scratch.pdf_destination_counter then