diff --git a/mustache.go b/mustache.go
index de82430..8ab8d3c 100644
--- a/mustache.go
+++ b/mustache.go
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ func (tmpl *Template) parseSection(section *sectionElement) error {
         case '{':
             if tag[len(tag)-1] == '}' {
                 //use a raw tag
-                section.elems = append(section.elems, &varElement{tag[1 : len(tag)-1], true})
+                section.elems = append(section.elems, &varElement{strings.TrimSpace(tag[1 : len(tag)-1]), true})
             }
         default:
             section.elems = append(section.elems, &varElement{tag, false})
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ func (tmpl *Template) parse() error {
         case '{':
             //use a raw tag
             if tag[len(tag)-1] == '}' {
-                tmpl.elems = append(tmpl.elems, &varElement{tag[1 : len(tag)-1], true})
+                tmpl.elems = append(tmpl.elems, &varElement{strings.TrimSpace(tag[1 : len(tag)-1]), true})
             }
         default:
             tmpl.elems = append(tmpl.elems, &varElement{tag, false})
diff --git a/mustache_test.go b/mustache_test.go
index 7019c14..5e2980e 100644
--- a/mustache_test.go
+++ b/mustache_test.go
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ var tests = []Test{
     {`hello world`, nil, "hello world"},
     {`hello {{name}}`, map[string]string{"name": "world"}, "hello world"},
     {`{{var}}`, map[string]string{"var": "5 > 2"}, "5 > 2"},
+    {`{{ var }}`, map[string]string{"var": "5 > 2"}, "5 > 2"},
     {`{{{var}}}`, map[string]string{"var": "5 > 2"}, "5 > 2"},
+    {`{{{ var }}}`, map[string]string{"var": "5 > 2"}, "5 > 2"},
     {`{{a}}{{b}}{{c}}{{d}}`, map[string]string{"a": "a", "b": "b", "c": "c", "d": "d"}, "abcd"},
     {`0{{a}}1{{b}}23{{c}}456{{d}}89`, map[string]string{"a": "a", "b": "b", "c": "c", "d": "d"}, "0a1b23c456d89"},
     {`hello {{! comment }}world`, map[string]string{}, "hello world"},