diff --git a/src/Converter.php b/src/Converter.php
index f4b3758..7acaf94 100644
--- a/src/Converter.php
+++ b/src/Converter.php
@@ -1360,7 +1360,7 @@ protected function fixBlockElementSpacing()
      */
     protected function fixInlineElementSpacing()
     {
-        if ($this->parser->isStartTag) {
+        if ($this->parser->isStartTag && !$this->parser->isEmptyTag) {
             // move spaces after the start element to before the element
             if (preg_match('~^(\s+)~', $this->parser->html, $matches)) {
                 $this->out($matches[1]);
diff --git a/test/ConverterTestCase.php b/test/ConverterTestCase.php
index f0ed30f..05580fd 100644
--- a/test/ConverterTestCase.php
+++ b/test/ConverterTestCase.php
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ public function providerFixBreaks()
         $data['break1']['html'] = "<strong>Hello,<br>How are you doing?</strong>";
         $data['break1']['md'] = "**Hello,  \nHow are you doing?**";
         $data['break2']['html'] = "<b>Hey,<br> How you're doing?</b><br><br><b>Sorry<br><br> You can't get through</b>";
-        $data['break2']['md'] = "**Hey,   \nHow you're doing?**  \n  \n**Sorry  \n   \nYou can't get through**";
+        $data['break2']['md'] = "**Hey,  \nHow you're doing?**  \n  \n**Sorry  \n  \nYou can't get through**";
 
         return $data;
     }