diff --git a/lib/ransack/search.rb b/lib/ransack/search.rb
index 085cb1337..9b4384443 100644
--- a/lib/ransack/search.rb
+++ b/lib/ransack/search.rb
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ def initialize(object, params = {}, options = {})
       params = params.to_unsafe_h if params.respond_to?(:to_unsafe_h)
       if params.is_a? Hash
         params = params.dup
+        params = params.transform_values { |v| v.is_a?(String) ? v.strip : v }
         params.delete_if { |k, v| [*v].all?{ |i| i.blank? && i != false } }
       else
         params = {}
diff --git a/spec/ransack/search_spec.rb b/spec/ransack/search_spec.rb
index 008c2245f..a824f1373 100644
--- a/spec/ransack/search_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/ransack/search_spec.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ module Ransack
         Search.new(Person, name_eq: 'foobar')
       end
 
+      it 'strip leading & trailing whitespace before building' do
+        expect_any_instance_of(Search).to receive(:build)
+        .with({ 'name_eq' => 'foobar' })
+        Search.new(Person, name_eq: '   foobar     ')
+      end
+
       it 'removes empty suffixed conditions before building' do
         expect_any_instance_of(Search).to receive(:build).with({})
         Search.new(Person, name_eq_any: [''])