diff --git a/src/terminal/draw.c b/src/terminal/draw.c
index 492a56333..bce6e6f3f 100644
--- a/src/terminal/draw.c
+++ b/src/terminal/draw.c
@@ -141,6 +141,17 @@ draw_char_data(struct terminal *term, int x, int y, unsigned char data)
 	set_screen_dirty(term->screen, y, y);
 }
 
+void
+draw_space(struct terminal *term, int x, int y, struct screen_char *color)
+{
+	struct screen_char *screen_char = get_char(term, x, y);
+
+	if (!screen_char) return;
+
+	screen_char->data = ' ';
+	if (color) screen_char->c = color->c;
+}
+
 /*! Used by viewer to copy over a document.
  * When doing frame drawing @a x can be different than 0. */
 void
diff --git a/src/terminal/draw.h b/src/terminal/draw.h
index b89b5ae99..b1f150f6f 100644
--- a/src/terminal/draw.h
+++ b/src/terminal/draw.h
@@ -260,6 +260,9 @@ void draw_char(struct terminal *term, int x, int y,
 	       struct color_pair *color);
 #endif /* CONFIG_UTF8 */
 
+void draw_space(struct terminal *term, int x, int y,
+		struct screen_char *color);
+
 /** Draws area defined by @a box using the same colors and attributes. */
 void draw_box(struct terminal *term, struct box *box,
 	      unsigned char data, enum screen_char_attr attr,
diff --git a/src/viewer/text/draw.c b/src/viewer/text/draw.c
index d64dec127..6ef27042f 100644
--- a/src/viewer/text/draw.c
+++ b/src/viewer/text/draw.c
@@ -203,6 +203,8 @@ draw_doc(struct session *ses, struct document_view *doc_view, int active)
 	struct view_state *vs;
 	struct terminal *term;
 	struct box *box;
+	struct screen_char *last = NULL;
+
 	int vx, vy;
 	int y;
 
@@ -287,13 +289,32 @@ draw_doc(struct session *ses, struct document_view *doc_view, int active)
 	for (y = int_max(vy, 0);
 	     y < int_min(doc_view->document->height, box->height + vy);
 	     y++) {
+		struct screen_char *first = NULL;
+		int i, j;
 		int st = int_max(vx, 0);
 		int en = int_min(doc_view->document->data[y].length,
 				 box->width + vx);
 
-		if (en - st <= 0) continue;
-		draw_line(term, box->x + st - vx, box->y + y - vy, en - st,
-			  &doc_view->document->data[y].chars[st]);
+		if (en - st > 0) {
+			draw_line(term, box->x + st - vx, box->y + y - vy,
+				  en - st,
+				  &doc_view->document->data[y].chars[st]);
+			last = &doc_view->document->data[y].chars[en - 1];
+		}
+		for (i = st; i < en; i++) {
+			if (doc_view->document->data[y].chars[i].data != ' ') {
+				first = &doc_view->document->data[y].chars[i];
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		for (j = st + 1; j < i; j++) {
+			draw_space(term, box->x + j - vx, box->y + y - vy,
+				   first);
+		}
+		for (i = en ? en : 1; i < box->width + vx - 1; i++) {
+			draw_space(term, box->x + i - vx, box->y + y - vy,
+				   last);
+		}
 	}
 	draw_view_status(ses, doc_view, active);
 	if (has_search_word(doc_view))