diff --git a/src/main/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactory.java b/src/main/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactory.java
index 83f5f7c4a..f436d4f91 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactory.java
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ private List<String> extractRules(String mappings, String separator) {
     return Arrays.asList(mappings.split(separator));
   }
 
-  static Pattern p = Pattern.compile("(.*)\\s*=>\\s*(.*)\\s*$");
+  static Pattern p = Pattern.compile("(.*)=>(.*)$");
 
   protected void parseRules(List<String> rules, NormalizeCharMap.Builder builder) {
     for (String rule : rules) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactoryTest.java b/src/test/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactoryTest.java
index 147c1613c..2da762d9f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactoryTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/yelp/nrtsearch/server/analysis/MappingV2CharFilterFactoryTest.java
@@ -54,6 +54,13 @@ public void testDifferentSeparator() throws IOException {
     assertEquals("abc and d n e'n'f g hi", output);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testWhitespaceInRule() throws IOException {
+    MappingV2CharFilterFactory factory = getFactory(". =>|,=> ");
+    String output = getFiltered(factory, "this. is, a test, string");
+    assertEquals("thisis  a test  string", output);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testNoMappings() {
     try {