diff --git a/src/DaveChild/TextStatistics/Syllables.php b/src/DaveChild/TextStatistics/Syllables.php
index 0ae6edd..4c6d09e 100644
--- a/src/DaveChild/TextStatistics/Syllables.php
+++ b/src/DaveChild/TextStatistics/Syllables.php
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@ public static function totalSyllables($strText, $strEncoding = '')
     public static function averageSyllablesPerWord($strText, $strEncoding = '')
     {
         $intSyllableCount = 0;
+        $strText = preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', trim($strText));
         $intWordCount = Text::wordCount($strText, $strEncoding);
         $arrWords = explode(' ', $strText);
         for ($i = 0; $i < $intWordCount; $i++) {
@@ -375,6 +376,7 @@ public static function averageSyllablesPerWord($strText, $strEncoding = '')
     public static function wordsWithThreeSyllables($strText, $blnCountProperNouns = true, $strEncoding = '')
     {
         $intLongWordCount = 0;
+        $strText = preg_replace('/\s+/', ' ', trim($strText));
         $intWordCount = Text::wordCount($strText, $strEncoding);
         $arrWords = explode(' ', $strText);
         for ($i = 0; $i < $intWordCount; $i++) {
diff --git a/tests/TextStatisticsTest.php b/tests/TextStatisticsTest.php
index 45b57dd..023f4bf 100644
--- a/tests/TextStatisticsTest.php
+++ b/tests/TextStatisticsTest.php
@@ -192,6 +192,28 @@ public function testAverageSyllablesPerWord()
         $this->assertEquals(1, $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord('and then there was one'));
         $this->assertEquals(2, $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord('because special ducklings deserve rainbows'));
         $this->assertEquals(1.5, $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord('and then there was one because special ducklings deserve rainbows'));
+        // Regression: non-space whitespace must not cause undefined array key warnings
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord('and then'),
+            $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord("and\nthen")
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord('and then'),
+            $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord("and\tthen")
+        );
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord('and then'),
+            $this->TextStatistics->averageSyllablesPerWord("and\n\nthen")
+        );
+    }
+
+    public function testWordsWithThreeSyllablesWhitespace()
+    {
+        // Regression: non-space whitespace must produce the same result as spaces
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            DaveChild\TextStatistics\Syllables::wordsWithThreeSyllables('there is just one', true),
+            DaveChild\TextStatistics\Syllables::wordsWithThreeSyllables("there\nis\njust\none", true)
+        );
     }
 
     /* Test Words