--- a/src/common/textsplit.cpp
+++ b/src/common/textsplit.cpp
@@ -517,8 +517,10 @@
 		    return false;
 		curspanglue = cc;
 		m_inNumber = false;
-	    }
-	    m_wordStart += it.appendchartostring(m_span);
+		m_wordStart += it.appendchartostring(m_span);
+	    } else {
+		goto SPACE;
+	    }
 	    break;
 	case '_':
 	    if (m_wordLen) {