diff --git a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/generated/grammar.ts b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/generated/grammar.ts
index af8c1ee..efc6ed5 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/generated/grammar.ts
+++ b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/generated/grammar.ts
@@ -318,10 +318,20 @@ export const MermaidGrammar = (): Grammar => loadedMermaidGrammar ?? (loadedMerm
     {
       "$type": "TerminalRule",
       "hidden": true,
-      "name": "COMMENT",
+      "name": "WHITESPACE",
+      "definition": {
+        "$type": "RegexToken",
+        "regex": "[ \\\\r\\\\t]+"
+      },
+      "fragment": false
+    },
+    {
+      "$type": "TerminalRule",
+      "hidden": true,
+      "name": "WHITESPACES",
       "definition": {
         "$type": "RegexToken",
-        "regex": "%%(?!{(.|\\\\n)*}%%).*"
+        "regex": "\\\\s"
       },
       "fragment": false
     },
@@ -345,7 +355,7 @@ export const MermaidGrammar = (): Grammar => loadedMermaidGrammar ?? (loadedMerm
               "$type": "CharacterRange",
               "left": {
                 "$type": "Keyword",
-                "value": "}%%\\r?\\n"
+                "value": "}%%\\n"
               }
             }
           }
@@ -356,10 +366,10 @@ export const MermaidGrammar = (): Grammar => loadedMermaidGrammar ?? (loadedMerm
     {
       "$type": "TerminalRule",
       "hidden": true,
-      "name": "WHITESPACE",
+      "name": "COMMENT",
       "definition": {
         "$type": "RegexToken",
-        "regex": "[ \\\\r\\\\t]+"
+        "regex": "%%.*"
       },
       "fragment": false
     },
diff --git a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/grammars/common.langium b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/grammars/common.langium
index 6af57a2..d98184c 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/grammars/common.langium
+++ b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/grammars/common.langium
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ terminal NUMBER returns number: /[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?/;
 terminal STRING: /"[^"]*"/;
 
 // hidden terminals
-hidden terminal COMMENT: /%%(?!{(.|\n)*}%%).*/;
-hidden terminal DIRECTIVE: "%%{" -> "}%%\r?\n";
 hidden terminal WHITESPACE: /[ \r\t]+/;
+hidden terminal WHITESPACES: /\s/;
+hidden terminal DIRECTIVE: "%%{" -> "}%%\n";
+hidden terminal COMMENT: /%%.*/;
 hidden terminal YAML: "---\n" -> "---\n";
diff --git a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/index.ts b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/index.ts
index a3492e0..4611beb 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/index.ts
+++ b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 export * from './accdescr';
 export * from './acctitle';
+export * from './newline';
 export * from './title';
diff --git a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/newline.ts b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/newline.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa21b70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/matchers/newline.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { CustomPatternMatcherFunc } from 'chevrotain';
+
+export const removeWhitespaces: CustomPatternMatcherFunc = (
+    string_: string,
+) => {
+    return [
+        string_.replaceAll(/^\s*|\s+$/gm, '').replaceAll(/[\n\r]{2,}/g, '\n'),
+    ];
+};
diff --git a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/mermaid-token-builder.ts b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/mermaid-token-builder.ts
index c8bee5f..f7d7e89 100644
--- a/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/mermaid-token-builder.ts
+++ b/packages/mermaid-parser/src/language/mermaid-token-builder.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-/* eslint-disable unicorn/no-null */
 import { EOF, TokenType } from 'chevrotain';
 import { DefaultTokenBuilder } from 'langium';
 import { TerminalRule } from 'langium/lib/grammar/generated/ast';
@@ -7,12 +6,18 @@ import {
     matchAccessibilityDescr,
     matchAccessibilityTitle,
     matchTitle,
+    removeWhitespaces,
 } from './matchers';
 
 export class MermiadTokenBuilder extends DefaultTokenBuilder {
     override buildTerminalToken(terminal: TerminalRule): TokenType {
         let tokenType = super.buildTerminalToken(terminal);
         switch (tokenType.name) {
+            case 'WHITESPACES': {
+                tokenType.LINE_BREAKS = true;
+                tokenType.PATTERN = removeWhitespaces;
+                break;
+            }
             case 'EOF': {
                 tokenType = EOF;
                 break;
@@ -39,4 +44,3 @@ export class MermiadTokenBuilder extends DefaultTokenBuilder {
         return tokenType;
     }
 }
-/* eslint-enable unicorn/no-null */