diff --git a/pkg/gui/staging_panel.go b/pkg/gui/staging_panel.go
index 69a005688..1fb9e8989 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/staging_panel.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/staging_panel.go
@@ -33,13 +33,9 @@ func (gui *Gui) refreshStagingPanel(forceSecondaryFocused bool, selectedLineIdx
 		gui.Views.Secondary.Title = gui.Tr.StagedChanges
 	}
 
-	// if we were ignoring whitespace, stop doing that so that
-	// line-by-line diffs work as expected
-	_ = gui.setIgnoreWhitespaceFlag(false)
-
 	// note for custom diffs, we'll need to send a flag here saying not to use the custom diff
-	diff := gui.GitCommand.WorktreeFileDiff(file, true, secondaryFocused, gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView)
-	secondaryDiff := gui.GitCommand.WorktreeFileDiff(file, true, !secondaryFocused, gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView)
+	diff := gui.GitCommand.WorktreeFileDiff(file, true, secondaryFocused, false)
+	secondaryDiff := gui.GitCommand.WorktreeFileDiff(file, true, !secondaryFocused, false)
 
 	// if we have e.g. a deleted file with nothing else to the diff will have only
 	// 4-5 lines in which case we'll swap panels
diff --git a/pkg/gui/whitespace-toggle.go b/pkg/gui/whitespace-toggle.go
index 697770a94..e7df9d879 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/whitespace-toggle.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/whitespace-toggle.go
@@ -1,15 +1,7 @@
 package gui
 
 func (gui *Gui) toggleWhitespaceInDiffView() error {
-	return gui.setIgnoreWhitespaceFlag(!gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView)
-}
-
-func (gui *Gui) setIgnoreWhitespaceFlag(shouldIgnoreWhitespace bool) error {
-	if gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView == shouldIgnoreWhitespace {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView = shouldIgnoreWhitespace
+	gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView = !gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView
 
 	toastMessage := gui.Tr.ShowingWhitespaceInDiffView
 	if gui.State.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView {