diff --git a/src/plugins/cpptools/cppcodeformatter.cpp b/src/plugins/cpptools/cppcodeformatter.cpp
index 4d98a0c1c25..1923d976e94 100644
--- a/src/plugins/cpptools/cppcodeformatter.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/cpptools/cppcodeformatter.cpp
@@ -1437,8 +1437,7 @@ void QtStyleCodeFormatter::onEnter(int newState, int *indentDepth, int *savedInd
         break;
 
     case string_open:
-        *indentDepth = tokenPosition;
-        *paddingDepth = 0;
+        *paddingDepth = tokenPosition - *indentDepth;
         break;
     }
 
@@ -1467,16 +1466,25 @@ void QtStyleCodeFormatter::adjustIndent(const QList<CPlusPlus::Token> &tokens, i
 
     // adjusting the indentDepth here instead of in enter() gives 'else if' the correct indentation
     // ### could be moved?
-    if (topState.type == substatement)
+    switch (topState.type) {
+    case substatement:
         *indentDepth += m_tabSettings.m_indentSize;
-
+        break;
     // keep user-adjusted indent in multiline comments
-    if (topState.type == multiline_comment_start
-            || topState.type == multiline_comment_cont) {
+    case multiline_comment_start:
+    case multiline_comment_cont:
         if (!tokens.isEmpty()) {
             *indentDepth = column(tokens.at(0).bytesBegin());
             return;
         }
+        break;
+    case string_open:
+        if (!tokenAt(0).isStringLiteral()) {
+            *paddingDepth = topState.savedPaddingDepth;
+            topState = previousState;
+            previousState = state(2);
+        }
+        break;
     }
 
     const int kind = tokenAt(0).kind();
diff --git a/tests/auto/cplusplus/codeformatter/tst_codeformatter.cpp b/tests/auto/cplusplus/codeformatter/tst_codeformatter.cpp
index 1527f002574..c1ba2bd7c10 100644
--- a/tests/auto/cplusplus/codeformatter/tst_codeformatter.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/cplusplus/codeformatter/tst_codeformatter.cpp
@@ -634,6 +634,8 @@ void tst_CodeFormatter::expressionContinuation1()
          << Line("    ~        << bar +")
          << Line("    ~           foo - blah(1)")
          << Line("    ~        << '?'")
+         << Line("    ~        << \"string\"")
+         << Line("    ~           \" concatenated\"")
          << Line("    ~        << \"\\n\";")
          << Line("}")
          ;
@@ -2159,13 +2161,13 @@ void tst_CodeFormatter::strings()
 {
     QList<Line> data;
     data << Line("char *a = \"foo\"")
-         << Line("          \"bar\" \"why\"")
-         << Line("          \"baz\";")
+         << Line("~         \"bar\" \"why\"")
+         << Line("~         \"baz\";")
          << Line("void foo()")
          << Line("{")
          << Line("    func(1, 2, \"foo\"")
-         << Line("               \"bar\"")
-         << Line("               \"baz\", 4,")
+         << Line("    ~          \"bar\"")
+         << Line("    ~          \"baz\", 4,")
          << Line("    ~    5, 6);")
          << Line("}")
             ;