diff --git a/src/util/dom.js b/src/util/dom.js
index 43ea6bbf5..83364df42 100644
--- a/src/util/dom.js
+++ b/src/util/dom.js
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ exports.extractContent = function (el, asFragment) {
     el = el.content
   }
   if (el.hasChildNodes()) {
+    trim(el, el.firstChild)
+    trim(el, el.lastChild)
     rawContent = asFragment
       ? document.createDocumentFragment()
       : document.createElement('div')
@@ -194,6 +196,12 @@ exports.extractContent = function (el, asFragment) {
   return rawContent
 }
 
+function trim (content, node) {
+  if (node && node.nodeType === 3 && !node.data.trim()) {
+    content.removeChild(node)
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Check if an element is a template tag.
  * Note if the template appears inside an SVG its tagName
@@ -205,4 +213,4 @@ exports.extractContent = function (el, asFragment) {
 exports.isTemplate = function (el) {
   return el.tagName &&
     el.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'template'
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}