diff --git a/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js b/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js
index 69192cc4a3fb..6cac08b6fb6a 100644
--- a/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js
+++ b/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ var ngRepeatDirective = ['$parse', '$animate', function($parse, $animate) {
       var aliasAs = match[3];
       var trackByExp = match[4];
 
-      match = lhs.match(/^(?:([\$\w]+)|\(([\$\w]+)\s*,\s*([\$\w]+)\))$/);
+      match = lhs.match(/^(?:(\s*[\$\w]+)|\(\s*([\$\w]+)\s*,\s*([\$\w]+)\s*\))$/);
 
       if (!match) {
         throw ngRepeatMinErr('iidexp', "'_item_' in '_item_ in _collection_' should be an identifier or '(_key_, _value_)' expression, but got '{0}'.",
diff --git a/test/ng/directive/ngRepeatSpec.js b/test/ng/directive/ngRepeatSpec.js
index 00e36be69a7f..f5cfdf6d3890 100644
--- a/test/ng/directive/ngRepeatSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/directive/ngRepeatSpec.js
@@ -146,6 +146,16 @@ describe('ngRepeat', function() {
     expect(element.text()).toEqual('misko:swe|shyam:set|');
   });
 
+  it('should iterate over on object/map where (key,value) contains whitespaces', function() {
+    element = $compile(
+      '<ul>' +
+        '<li ng-repeat="(  key ,  value  ) in items">{{key}}:{{value}}|</li>' +
+      '</ul>')(scope);
+    scope.items = {me:'swe', you:'set'};
+    scope.$digest();
+    expect(element.text()).toEqual('me:swe|you:set|');
+  });
+
   it('should iterate over an object/map with identical values', function() {
     element = $compile(
       '<ul>' +