diff --git a/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverter.java b/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverter.java
index 2002f2767..275e50820 100644
--- a/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverter.java
+++ b/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverter.java
@@ -211,87 +211,54 @@ public class HtmlConverter {
         }
         StringReader reader = new StringReader(text);
         StringBuilder buff = new StringBuilder(text.length() + TEXT_TO_HTML_EXTRA_BUFFER_LENGTH);
-        boolean isStartOfLine = false;  // Are we currently at the start of a line?
+        boolean isStartOfLine = true;  // Are we currently at the start of a line?
         int spaces = 0;
         int quoteDepth = 0; // Number of DIVs deep we are.
         int quotesThisLine = 0; // How deep we should be quoting for this line.
         try {
             int c;
             while ((c = reader.read()) != -1) {
-                switch (c) {
-                case '\n':
-                case '&':
-                case '<':
-                case '\r':
-                    if (isStartOfLine) {
-                        while (spaces-- > 0) {
-                            buff.append(' ');
-                        }
-                    }
-                    else {
-                        spaces = 0;
-                    }
-                    break;
-                }
-
-                switch (c) {
-                case '\n':
-                    // pine treats <br> as two newlines, but <br/> as one newline.  Use <br/> so our messages aren't
-                    // doublespaced.
-                    buff.append(HTML_NEWLINE);
-                    isStartOfLine = true;
-                    quotesThisLine = 0;
-                    break;
-                case '&':
-                    buff.append("&amp;");
-                    break;
-                case '<':
-                    buff.append("&lt;");
-                    break;
-                case '>':
-                    spaces = 0;
-                    if (isStartOfLine) {
-                        quotesThisLine++;
-                    } else {
-                        // We use a token here which can't occur in htmlified text because &gt; is valid
-                        // within links (where > is not), and linkifying links will include it if we
-                        // do it here. We'll make another pass and change this back to &gt; after
-                        // the linkification is done.
-                        buff.append("<gt>");
-                    }
-                    break;
-                case '\r':
-                    break;
-                case ' ':
-                    if (isStartOfLine) {
+                if (isStartOfLine) {
+                    switch (c) {
+                    case ' ':
                         spaces++;
-                    }
-                    else {
-                        buff.append((char)c);
-                    }
-                    break;
-                default:
-                    if (isStartOfLine) {
-                        // Not a quote character and not a space.  Content is starting now.
-                        isStartOfLine = false;
-                        // Add/remove blockquotes by comparing this line's quotes to the previous line's quotes.
-                        if (quotesThisLine > quoteDepth) {
-                            for (int i = quoteDepth; i < quotesThisLine; i++) {
-                                buff.append(HTML_BLOCKQUOTE_START.replace(HTML_BLOCKQUOTE_COLOR_TOKEN, getQuoteColor(i + 1)));
-                            }
-                        } else if (quotesThisLine < quoteDepth) {
-                            for (int i = quoteDepth; i > quotesThisLine; i--) {
-                                buff.append(HTML_BLOCKQUOTE_END);
-                            }
-                        }
+                        break;
+                    case '>':
+                        quotesThisLine++;
+                        spaces = 0;
+                        break;
+                    case '\n':
+                        appendbq(buff, quotesThisLine, quoteDepth);
                         quoteDepth = quotesThisLine;
 
-                        while (spaces-- > 0) {
-                            buff.append(' ');
-                        }
+                        appendsp(buff, spaces);
+                        spaces = 0;
+
+                        appendchar(buff, c);
+                        isStartOfLine = true;
+                        quotesThisLine = 0;
+                        break;
+                    default:
+                        isStartOfLine = false;
+
+                        appendbq(buff, quotesThisLine, quoteDepth);
+                        quoteDepth = quotesThisLine;
+
+                        appendsp(buff, spaces);
+                        spaces = 0;
+
+                        appendchar(buff, c);
+                        isStartOfLine = false;
+                        break;
                     }
-                    buff.append((char)c);
-                }//switch
+                }
+                else {
+                    appendchar(buff, c);
+                    if (c == '\n') {
+                        isStartOfLine = true;
+                        quotesThisLine = 0;
+                    }
+                }
             }
         } catch (IOException e) {
             //Should never happen
@@ -335,6 +302,54 @@ public class HtmlConverter {
         return text;
     }
 
+    private static void appendchar(StringBuilder buff, int c) {
+        switch (c) {
+        case '&':
+            buff.append("&amp;");
+            break;
+        case '<':
+            buff.append("&lt;");
+            break;
+        case '>':
+            // We use a token here which can't occur in htmlified text because &gt; is valid
+            // within links (where > is not), and linkifying links will include it if we
+            // do it here. We'll make another pass and change this back to &gt; after
+            // the linkification is done.
+            buff.append("<gt>");
+            break;
+        case '\r':
+            break;
+        case '\n':
+            // pine treats <br> as two newlines, but <br/> as one newline.  Use <br/> so our messages aren't
+            // doublespaced.
+            buff.append(HTML_NEWLINE);
+            break;
+        default:
+            buff.append((char)c);
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void appendsp(StringBuilder buff, int spaces) {
+        while (spaces > 0) {
+            buff.append(' ');
+            spaces--;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static void appendbq(StringBuilder buff, int quotesThisLine, int quoteDepth) {
+        // Add/remove blockquotes by comparing this line's quotes to the previous line's quotes.
+        if (quotesThisLine > quoteDepth) {
+            for (int i = quoteDepth; i < quotesThisLine; i++) {
+                buff.append(HTML_BLOCKQUOTE_START.replace(HTML_BLOCKQUOTE_COLOR_TOKEN, getQuoteColor(i + 1)));
+            }
+        } else if (quotesThisLine < quoteDepth) {
+            for (int i = quoteDepth; i > quotesThisLine; i--) {
+                buff.append(HTML_BLOCKQUOTE_END);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     protected static final String QUOTE_COLOR_DEFAULT = "#ccc";
     protected static final String QUOTE_COLOR_LEVEL_1 = "#729fcf";
     protected static final String QUOTE_COLOR_LEVEL_2 = "#ad7fa8";
diff --git a/tests/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverterTest.java b/tests/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverterTest.java
index a58e25050..e5477be78 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverterTest.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/fsck/k9/helper/HtmlConverterTest.java
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ public class HtmlConverterTest extends TestCase {
             +   "<blockquote class=\"gmail_quote\" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #ad7fa8; padding-left: 1ex;\">"
             +     "A man, a plan...<br />"
             +   "</blockquote>"
-            +   " Too easy!</blockquote>"
+            +     " Too easy!<br />"
+            +   "</blockquote>"
             +   "<br />"
             +   "Nice job :)<br />"
             +   "<blockquote class=\"gmail_quote\" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;\">"
@@ -137,23 +138,33 @@ public class HtmlConverterTest extends TestCase {
     public void testPreserveSpacesAtFirst() {
         String message = "foo\n"
                 + " bar\n"
-                + "  baz\n"
-                + " \n"
-                + "  &\n"
-                + "    \r\n"
-                + "   <\n"
-                + "  >\n";
+                + "  baz\n";
         String result = HtmlConverter.textToHtml(message);
         writeToFile(result);
         assertEquals("<pre class=\"k9mail\">"
                 + "foo<br />"
                 + " bar<br />"
                 + "  baz<br />"
+                + "</pre>", result);
+    }
+
+    public void testPreserveSpacesAtFirstForSpecialCharacters() {
+        String message =
+                  " \n"
+                + "  &\n"
+                + "    \r\n"
+                + "   <\n"
+                + "  > \n";
+        String result = HtmlConverter.textToHtml(message);
+        writeToFile(result);
+        assertEquals("<pre class=\"k9mail\">"
                 + " <br />"
                 + "  &amp;<br />"
                 + "    <br />"
                 + "   &lt;<br />"
-                + "  &gt;<br />"
+                + "<blockquote class=\"gmail_quote\" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 1ex 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid #729fcf; padding-left: 1ex;\">"
+                + " <br />"
+                + "</blockquote>"
                 + "</pre>", result);
     }
 }