diff --git a/src/ng/directive/input.js b/src/ng/directive/input.js
index bf3111e8ffcd..abe7402c6e37 100644
--- a/src/ng/directive/input.js
+++ b/src/ng/directive/input.js
@@ -2349,62 +2349,92 @@ var minlengthDirective = function() {
  * @name ngList
  *
  * @description
- * Text input that converts between a delimited string and an array of strings. The delimiter
- * can be a fixed string (by default a comma) or a regular expression.
+ * Text input that converts between a delimited string and an array of strings. The default
+ * delimiter is a comma followed by a space - equivalent to `ng-list=", "`. You can specify a custom
+ * delimiter as the value of the `ngList` attribute - for example, `ng-list=" | "`.
  *
- * @element input
- * @param {string=} ngList optional delimiter that should be used to split the value. If
- *   specified in form `/something/` then the value will be converted into a regular expression.
+ * The behaviour of the directive is affected by the use of the `ngTrim` attribute.
+ * * If `ngTrim` is set to `"false"` then whitespace around both the separator and each
+ *   list item is respected. This implies that the user of the directive is responsible for
+ *   dealing with whitespace but also allows you to use whitespace as a delimiter, such as a
+ *   tab or newline character.
+ * * Otherwise whitespace around the delimiter is ignored when splitting (although it is respected
+ *   when joining the list items back together) and whitespace around each list item is stripped
+ *   before it is added to the model.
  *
- * @example
-    <example name="ngList-directive" module="listExample">
-      <file name="index.html">
-       <script>
-         angular.module('listExample', [])
-           .controller('ExampleController', ['$scope', function($scope) {
-             $scope.names = ['igor', 'misko', 'vojta'];
-           }]);
-       </script>
-       <form name="myForm" ng-controller="ExampleController">
-         List: <input name="namesInput" ng-model="names" ng-list required>
-         <span class="error" ng-show="myForm.namesInput.$error.required">
-           Required!</span>
-         <br>
-         <tt>names = {{names}}</tt><br/>
-         <tt>myForm.namesInput.$valid = {{myForm.namesInput.$valid}}</tt><br/>
-         <tt>myForm.namesInput.$error = {{myForm.namesInput.$error}}</tt><br/>
-         <tt>myForm.$valid = {{myForm.$valid}}</tt><br/>
-         <tt>myForm.$error.required = {{!!myForm.$error.required}}</tt><br/>
-        </form>
-      </file>
-      <file name="protractor.js" type="protractor">
-        var listInput = element(by.model('names'));
-        var names = element(by.binding('{{names}}'));
-        var valid = element(by.binding('myForm.namesInput.$valid'));
-        var error = element(by.css('span.error'));
-
-        it('should initialize to model', function() {
-          expect(names.getText()).toContain('["igor","misko","vojta"]');
-          expect(valid.getText()).toContain('true');
-          expect(error.getCssValue('display')).toBe('none');
-        });
-
-        it('should be invalid if empty', function() {
-          listInput.clear();
-          listInput.sendKeys('');
-
-          expect(names.getText()).toContain('');
-          expect(valid.getText()).toContain('false');
-          expect(error.getCssValue('display')).not.toBe('none');        });
-      </file>
-    </example>
+ * ### Example with Validation
+ *
+ * <example name="ngList-directive" module="listExample">
+ *   <file name="app.js">
+ *      angular.module('listExample', [])
+ *        .controller('ExampleController', ['$scope', function($scope) {
+ *          $scope.names = ['morpheus', 'neo', 'trinity'];
+ *        }]);
+ *   </file>
+ *   <file name="index.html">
+ *    <form name="myForm" ng-controller="ExampleController">
+ *      List: <input name="namesInput" ng-model="names" ng-list required>
+ *      <span class="error" ng-show="myForm.namesInput.$error.required">
+ *        Required!</span>
+ *      <br>
+ *      <tt>names = {{names}}</tt><br/>
+ *      <tt>myForm.namesInput.$valid = {{myForm.namesInput.$valid}}</tt><br/>
+ *      <tt>myForm.namesInput.$error = {{myForm.namesInput.$error}}</tt><br/>
+ *      <tt>myForm.$valid = {{myForm.$valid}}</tt><br/>
+ *      <tt>myForm.$error.required = {{!!myForm.$error.required}}</tt><br/>
+ *     </form>
+ *   </file>
+ *   <file name="protractor.js" type="protractor">
+ *     var listInput = element(by.model('names'));
+ *     var names = element(by.binding('{{names}}'));
+ *     var valid = element(by.binding('myForm.namesInput.$valid'));
+ *     var error = element(by.css('span.error'));
+ *
+ *     it('should initialize to model', function() {
+ *       expect(names.getText()).toContain('["morpheus","neo","trinity"]');
+ *       expect(valid.getText()).toContain('true');
+ *       expect(error.getCssValue('display')).toBe('none');
+ *     });
+ *
+ *     it('should be invalid if empty', function() {
+ *       listInput.clear();
+ *       listInput.sendKeys('');
+ *
+ *       expect(names.getText()).toContain('');
+ *       expect(valid.getText()).toContain('false');
+ *       expect(error.getCssValue('display')).not.toBe('none');
+ *     });
+ *   </file>
+ * </example>
+ *
+ * ### Example - splitting on whitespace
+ * <example name="ngList-directive-newlines">
+ *   <file name="index.html">
+ *    <textarea ng-model="list" ng-list="&#10;" ng-trim="false"></textarea>
+ *    <pre>{{ list | json }}</pre>
+ *   </file>
+ *   <file name="protractor.js" type="protractor">
+ *     it("should split the text by newlines", function() {
+ *       var listInput = element(by.model('list'));
+ *       var output = element(by.binding('{{ list | json }}'));
+ *       listInput.sendKeys('abc\ndef\nghi');
+ *       expect(output.getText()).toContain('[\n  "abc",\n  "def",\n  "ghi"\n]');
+ *     });
+ *   </file>
+ * </example>
+ *
+ * @element input
+ * @param {string=} ngList optional delimiter that should be used to split the value.
  */
 var ngListDirective = function() {
   return {
     require: 'ngModel',
     link: function(scope, element, attr, ctrl) {
-      var match = /\/(.*)\//.exec(attr.ngList),
-          separator = match && new RegExp(match[1]) || attr.ngList || ',';
+      // We want to control whitespace trimming so we use this convoluted approach
+      // to access the ngList attribute, which doesn't pre-trim the attribute
+      var ngList = element.attr(attr.$attr.ngList) || ', ';
+      var trimValues = attr.ngTrim !== 'false';
+      var separator = trimValues ? trim(ngList) : ngList;
 
       var parse = function(viewValue) {
         // If the viewValue is invalid (say required but empty) it will be `undefined`
@@ -2414,7 +2444,7 @@ var ngListDirective = function() {
 
         if (viewValue) {
           forEach(viewValue.split(separator), function(value) {
-            if (value) list.push(trim(value));
+            if (value) list.push(trimValues ? trim(value) : value);
           });
         }
 
@@ -2424,7 +2454,7 @@ var ngListDirective = function() {
       ctrl.$parsers.push(parse);
       ctrl.$formatters.push(function(value) {
         if (isArray(value)) {
-          return value.join(', ');
+          return value.join(ngList);
         }
 
         return undefined;
diff --git a/test/ng/directive/inputSpec.js b/test/ng/directive/inputSpec.js
index 5c3784f50507..bf6bd70d2ecc 100644
--- a/test/ng/directive/inputSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/directive/inputSpec.js
@@ -2633,7 +2633,7 @@ describe('input', function() {
     it("should not clobber text if model changes due to itself", function() {
       // When the user types 'a,b' the 'a,' stage parses to ['a'] but if the
       // $parseModel function runs it will change to 'a', in essence preventing
-      // the user from ever typying ','.
+      // the user from ever typing ','.
       compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list />');
 
       changeInputValueTo('a ');
@@ -2671,26 +2671,69 @@ describe('input', function() {
       expect(inputElm).toBeValid();
     });
 
+    describe('with a custom separator', function() {
+      it('should split on the custom separator', function() {
+        compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list=":" />');
 
-    it('should allow custom separator', function() {
-      compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list=":" />');
+        changeInputValueTo('a,a');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a,a']);
 
-      changeInputValueTo('a,a');
-      expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a,a']);
+        changeInputValueTo('a:b');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a', 'b']);
+      });
 
-      changeInputValueTo('a:b');
-      expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a', 'b']);
+
+      it("should join the list back together with the custom separator", function() {
+        compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list=" : " />');
+
+        scope.$apply(function() {
+          scope.list = ['x', 'y', 'z'];
+        });
+        expect(inputElm.val()).toBe('x : y : z');
+      });
     });
 
+    describe('(with ngTrim undefined or true)', function() {
 
-    it('should allow regexp as a separator', function() {
-      compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list="/:|,/" />');
+      it('should ignore separator whitespace when splitting', function() {
+        compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list="  |  " />');
 
-      changeInputValueTo('a,b');
-      expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a', 'b']);
+        changeInputValueTo('a|b');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a', 'b']);
+      });
+
+      it('should trim whitespace from each list item', function() {
+        compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-list="|" />');
 
-      changeInputValueTo('a,b: c');
-      expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a', 'b', 'c']);
+        changeInputValueTo('a | b');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a', 'b']);
+      });
+    });
+
+    describe('(with ngTrim set to false)', function() {
+
+      it('should use separator whitespace when splitting', function() {
+        compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-trim="false" ng-list="  |  " />');
+
+        changeInputValueTo('a|b');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a|b']);
+
+        changeInputValueTo('a  |  b');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a','b']);
+
+      });
+
+      it("should not trim whitespace from each list item", function() {
+        compileInput('<input type="text" ng-model="list" ng-trim="false" ng-list="|" />');
+        changeInputValueTo('a  |  b');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a  ','  b']);
+      });
+
+      it("should support splitting on newlines", function() {
+        compileInput('<textarea type="text" ng-model="list" ng-trim="false" ng-list="&#10;"></textarea');
+        changeInputValueTo('a\nb');
+        expect(scope.list).toEqual(['a','b']);
+      });
     });
   });