diff --git a/lib/email_cook.rb b/lib/email_cook.rb
index 209d940ca3d..7a5056167df 100644
--- a/lib/email_cook.rb
+++ b/lib/email_cook.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ class EmailCook
 
     quote_buffer = ""
     text.each_line do |line|
+      # replace indentation with non-breaking spaces
+      line.sub!(/^\s{2,}/) { |s| "\u00A0" * s.length }
 
       if line =~ /^\s*>/
         in_quote = true
diff --git a/spec/components/email_cook_spec.rb b/spec/components/email_cook_spec.rb
index a29259c6111..211b45ff43e 100644
--- a/spec/components/email_cook_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/email_cook_spec.rb
@@ -84,6 +84,28 @@ describe EmailCook do
     expect(cook(long)).to eq(long_cooked)
   end
 
+  it "replaces indentation of more than 2 spaces with corresponding amount of non-breaking spaces" do
+    nbsp = "\u00A0"
+    long = plaintext(<<~LONG_EMAIL)
+      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
+
+          this is indended by 4 spaces
+       this is indended by 1 space
+      no indentation, but lots       of spaces
+    LONG_EMAIL
+
+    long_cooked = <<~LONG_COOKED.strip!
+      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
+      <br>
+      <br>#{nbsp}#{nbsp}#{nbsp}#{nbsp}this is indended by 4 spaces
+      <br> this is indended by 1 space
+      <br>no indentation, but lots       of spaces
+      <br>
+    LONG_COOKED
+
+    expect(cook(long)).to eq(long_cooked)
+  end
+
   it "creates oneboxed link when the line contains only a link" do
     raw = plaintext("https://www.eviltrout.com")
     expect(cook(raw)).to eq('<a href="https://www.eviltrout.com" class="onebox" target="_blank">https://www.eviltrout.com</a><br>')