diff --git a/lib/rails/dom/testing/assertions/dom_assertions.rb b/lib/rails/dom/testing/assertions/dom_assertions.rb
index 9ed78d3..9c5721d 100644
--- a/lib/rails/dom/testing/assertions/dom_assertions.rb
+++ b/lib/rails/dom/testing/assertions/dom_assertions.rb
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def equal_child?(child, other_child, strict)
               if strict
                 child.to_s == other_child.to_s
               else
-                child.to_s.strip == other_child.to_s.strip
+                child.to_s.split == other_child.to_s.split
               end
             end
 
diff --git a/test/dom_assertions_test.rb b/test/dom_assertions_test.rb
index 3bb83c6..f663e43 100644
--- a/test/dom_assertions_test.rb
+++ b/test/dom_assertions_test.rb
@@ -100,6 +100,23 @@ def test_dom_equal_with_indentation
     HTML
   end
 
+  def test_dom_equal_with_surrounding_whitespace
+    canonical = %{<p>Lorem ipsum dolor</p><p>sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit</p>}
+    assert_dom_equal(canonical, <<-HTML)
+<p>
+  Lorem
+  ipsum
+  dolor
+</p>
+
+<p>
+  sit amet,
+  consectetur
+  adipiscing elit
+</p>
+    HTML
+  end
+
   def test_dom_not_equal_with_interior_whitespace
     with_space    = %{<a><b>hello world</b></a>}
     without_space = %{<a><b>helloworld</b></a>}