diff --git a/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-metadata.xml b/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-metadata.xml
index bc08c814d1..fc55ef6483 100644
--- a/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-metadata.xml
+++ b/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-metadata.xml
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@
 
             <para>
                 When you use this syntax, BitBake expects one or more strings.
-                Surrounding spaces are removed as well.
+                Surrounding spaces and spacing are preserved.
                 Here is an example:
                 <literallayout class='monospaced'>
      FOO = "123 456 789 123456 123 456 123 456"
@@ -352,8 +352,8 @@
      FOO2_remove = "abc def"
                 </literallayout>
                 The variable <filename>FOO</filename> becomes
-                "789 123456" and <filename>FOO2</filename> becomes
-                "ghi abcdef".
+                "  789 123456    " and <filename>FOO2</filename> becomes
+                "  ghi abcdef    ".
             </para>
 
             <para>
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py
index 4434142a02..0a8488ca1b 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/data_smart.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ __setvar_keyword__ = ["_append", "_prepend", "_remove"]
 __setvar_regexp__ = re.compile('(?P<base>.*?)(?P<keyword>_append|_prepend|_remove)(_(?P<add>[^A-Z]*))?$')
 __expand_var_regexp__ = re.compile(r"\${[^{}@\n\t :]+}")
 __expand_python_regexp__ = re.compile(r"\${@.+?}")
+__whitespace_split__ = re.compile('(\s)')
 
 def infer_caller_details(loginfo, parent = False, varval = True):
     """Save the caller the trouble of specifying everything."""
@@ -818,8 +819,8 @@ class DataSmart(MutableMapping):
 
             if removes:
                 filtered = filter(lambda v: v not in removes,
-                                  value.split())
-                value = " ".join(filtered)
+                                  __whitespace_split__.split(value))
+                value = "".join(filtered)
                 if expand and var in self.expand_cache:
                     # We need to ensure the expand cache has the correct value
                     # flag == "_content" here
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py
index a4a9dd30fb..8279115e03 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/tests/data.py
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ class TestConcatOverride(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_remove(self):
         self.d.setVar("TEST", "${VAL} ${BAR}")
         self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "val")
-        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), "bar")
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), " bar")
 
     def test_remove_cleared(self):
         self.d.setVar("TEST", "${VAL} ${BAR}")
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ class TestConcatOverride(unittest.TestCase):
         self.d.setVar("TEST", "${VAL} ${BAR}")
         self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "val")
         self.d.setVar("TEST_TEST", "${TEST} ${TEST}")
-        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST_TEST"), "bar bar")
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST_TEST"), " bar  bar")
 
     def test_empty_remove(self):
         self.d.setVar("TEST", "")
@@ -311,13 +311,25 @@ class TestConcatOverride(unittest.TestCase):
         self.d.setVar("BAR", "Z")
         self.d.setVar("TEST", "${BAR}/X Y")
         self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "${BAR}/X")
-        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), "Y")
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), " Y")
 
     def test_remove_expansion_items(self):
         self.d.setVar("TEST", "A B C D")
         self.d.setVar("BAR", "B D")
         self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "${BAR}")
-        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), "A C")
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), "A  C ")
+
+    def test_remove_preserve_whitespace(self):
+        # When the removal isn't active, the original value should be preserved
+        self.d.setVar("TEST", " A B")
+        self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "C")
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), " A B")
+
+    def test_remove_preserve_whitespace2(self):
+        # When the removal is active preserve the whitespace
+        self.d.setVar("TEST", " A B")
+        self.d.setVar("TEST_remove", "B")
+        self.assertEqual(self.d.getVar("TEST"), " A ")
 
 class TestOverrides(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):