diff --git a/spring-ws-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcher.java b/spring-ws-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcher.java
index 457213511..dd2fb8933 100644
--- a/spring-ws-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcher.java
+++ b/spring-ws-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcher.java
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ protected Diff createDiff(Source payload) {
 		Document actualDocument = createDocumentFromSource(payload);
 		return DiffBuilder.compare(expectedDocument) //
 				.withTest(actualDocument) //
+				.ignoreWhitespace() //
 				.checkForSimilar() //
 				.build();
 	}
diff --git a/spring-ws-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcherTest.java b/spring-ws-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcherTest.java
index 8d285aa7b..7726327f2 100644
--- a/spring-ws-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcherTest.java
+++ b/spring-ws-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/ws/test/support/matcher/xmlunit2/PayloadDiffMatcherTest.java
@@ -46,6 +46,22 @@ public void match() {
 		verify(message);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void matchIgnoringWhitespace() {
+
+		String xml = "<response><success>true</success></response>";
+		String xmlWithAdditionalWhitespace = "<response> <success>true</success> </response>";
+		WebServiceMessage message = createMock(WebServiceMessage.class);
+		expect(message.getPayloadSource()).andReturn(new StringSource(xml)).times(2);
+		replay(message);
+
+		PayloadDiffMatcher matcher = new PayloadDiffMatcher(new StringSource(xmlWithAdditionalWhitespace));
+		matcher.match(message);
+
+		verify(message);
+	}
+
+
 	@Test
 	public void nonMatch() {