diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/basefilefind.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/basefilefind.cpp
index abe8777b347..f0fe19cc349 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/basefilefind.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/basefilefind.cpp
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ static QString displayText(const QString &line)
     QString result = line;
     auto end = result.end();
     for (auto it = result.begin(); it != end; ++it) {
-        if (!it->isPrint())
+        if (!it->isSpace() && !it->isPrint())
             *it = QChar('?');
     }
     return result;