diff --git a/lib/twitter_api.rb b/lib/twitter_api.rb
index 85155dd2e3a..f8d9fd71dcc 100644
--- a/lib/twitter_api.rb
+++ b/lib/twitter_api.rb
@@ -96,15 +96,17 @@ class TwitterApi
 
     def link_handles_in(text)
       text.gsub(/(?:^|\s)@\w+/) do |match|
-        handle = match.strip[1..]
-        "<a href='https://twitter.com/#{handle}' target='_blank'>@#{handle}</a>"
+        whitespace = match[0] == " " ? " " : ""
+        handle     = match.strip[1..]
+        "#{whitespace}<a href='https://twitter.com/#{handle}' target='_blank'>@#{handle}</a>"
       end.strip
     end
 
     def link_hashtags_in(text)
       text.gsub(/(?:^|\s)#\w+/) do |match|
-        hashtag = match.strip[1..]
-        "<a href='https://twitter.com/search?q=%23#{hashtag}' target='_blank'>##{hashtag}</a>"
+        whitespace = match[0] == " " ? " " : ""
+        hashtag    = match.strip[1..]
+        "#{whitespace}<a href='https://twitter.com/search?q=%23#{hashtag}' target='_blank'>##{hashtag}</a>"
       end.strip
     end