diff --git a/src/CutAndPaste.C b/src/CutAndPaste.C
index 5de1a5c6f0..dca3f0687c 100644
--- a/src/CutAndPaste.C
+++ b/src/CutAndPaste.C
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ pasteSelectionHelper(LCursor & cur, ParagraphList const & parlist,
 			pars[last_paste].makeSameLayout(pars[last_paste + 1]);
 			mergeParagraph(buffer.params(), pars, last_paste);
 		} else {
-			pars[last_paste + 1].stripLeadingSpaces();
+			pars[last_paste + 1].stripLeadingSpaces(buffer.params().trackChanges);
 			++last_paste;
 		}
 	}
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ PitPosPair eraseSelectionHelper(BufferParams const & params,
 		    (pit + 1 != endpit || pars[pit].hasSameLayout(pars[pit + 1]))) {
 			pos_type const thissize = pars[pit].size();
 			if (doclear)
-				pars[pit + 1].stripLeadingSpaces();
+				pars[pit + 1].stripLeadingSpaces(params.trackChanges);
 			mergeParagraph(params, pars, pit);
 			--endpit;
 			if (pit == endpit)
@@ -539,7 +539,7 @@ void cutSelection(LCursor & cur, bool doclear, bool realcut)
 
 		// sometimes necessary
 		if (doclear)
-			text->paragraphs()[begpit].stripLeadingSpaces();
+			text->paragraphs()[begpit].stripLeadingSpaces(bp.trackChanges);
 
 		// cutSelection can invalidate the cursor so we need to set
 		// it anew. (Lgb)
diff --git a/src/paragraph.C b/src/paragraph.C
index 9f5083961f..858f516dc1 100644
--- a/src/paragraph.C
+++ b/src/paragraph.C
@@ -560,19 +560,22 @@ void Paragraph::makeSameLayout(Paragraph const & par)
 }
 
 
-int Paragraph::stripLeadingSpaces()
+int Paragraph::stripLeadingSpaces(bool trackChanges)
 {
 	if (isFreeSpacing())
 		return 0;
 
-	int i = 0;
-	while (!empty() && (isNewline(0) || isLineSeparator(0))
-		&& !isDeleted(0)) {
-		eraseChar(0, false); // no change tracking here
-		++i;
+	int pos = 0;
+	int count = 0;
+
+	while (pos < size() && (isNewline(pos) || isLineSeparator(pos))) {
+		if (eraseChar(pos, trackChanges))
+			++count;
+		else
+			++pos;
 	}
 
-	return i;
+	return count;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/paragraph.h b/src/paragraph.h
index fdafeb2e6f..5fb7af6216 100644
--- a/src/paragraph.h
+++ b/src/paragraph.h
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ public:
 	int getPositionOfInset(InsetBase const * inset) const;
 
 	/// Returns the number of line breaks and white-space stripped at the start
-	int stripLeadingSpaces();
+	int stripLeadingSpaces(bool trackChanges);
 
 	/// return true if we allow multiple spaces
 	bool isFreeSpacing() const;
diff --git a/src/text2.C b/src/text2.C
index ca16466462..57f52363f7 100644
--- a/src/text2.C
+++ b/src/text2.C
@@ -1231,7 +1231,7 @@ bool LyXText::deleteEmptyParagraphMechanism(LCursor & cur,
 		return true;
 	}
 
-	if (oldpar.stripLeadingSpaces())
+	if (oldpar.stripLeadingSpaces(cur.buffer().params().trackChanges))
 		need_anchor_change = true;
 
 	return false;