diff --git a/lib/haml/html.rb b/lib/haml/html.rb
index 2e499f58..d0ee9b32 100644
--- a/lib/haml/html.rb
+++ b/lib/haml/html.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ module Haml
 
         if @@options[:rhtml]
           match_to_html(template, /<%=(.*?)-?%>/m, 'loud')
-          match_to_html(template, /<%(.*?)-?%>/m,  'silent')
+          match_to_html(template, /<%-?(.*?)-?%>/m,  'silent')
         end
 
         method = @@options[:xhtml] ? Hpricot.method(:XML) : method(:Hpricot)
diff --git a/test/haml/html2haml_test.rb b/test/haml/html2haml_test.rb
index 09bc9c04..dbd766e1 100644
--- a/test/haml/html2haml_test.rb
+++ b/test/haml/html2haml_test.rb
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ class Html2HamlTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal %(%div{ :class => "\#{12} + \#{13}" }\n  Math is super),
       render_rhtml(%Q{<div class="<%= 12 %> + <%= 13 %>">Math is super</div>})
   end
+  
+  def test_whitespace_eating_erb_tags
+    assert_equal %(- form_for),
+      render_rhtml(%Q{<%- form_for -%>})
+  end
 
   protected