diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/BaseTypes.js b/lib/OpenLayers/BaseTypes.js
index c4c2976bac..4537e6a99c 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/BaseTypes.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/BaseTypes.js
@@ -51,18 +51,7 @@ String.prototype.contains = function(str) {
  *          trailing spaces removed
  */
 String.prototype.trim = function() {
-    
-    var b = 0;
-    while(this.substr(b,1) == " ") {
-        b++;
-    }
-    
-    var e = this.length - 1;
-    while(this.substr(e,1) == " ") {
-        e--;
-    }
-    
-    return this.substring(b, e+1);
+    return this.replace(/^\s+/, '').replace(/\s+$/, '');    
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/tests/test_BaseTypes.html b/tests/test_BaseTypes.html
index e633229aaf..7a6879cd11 100644
--- a/tests/test_BaseTypes.html
+++ b/tests/test_BaseTypes.html
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     }
     
     function test_03_String_trim(t) {
-        t.plan(4);
+        t.plan(5);
         
         var str = "chickenHead";
         t.eq(str.trim(), "chickenHead", "string with no extra whitespace is left alone");
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@
         str = "  chickenHead    ";
         t.eq(str.trim(), "chickenHead", "string with extra whitespace at beginning and end is trimmed correctly");
 
+        str = " ";
+        t.eq(str.trim(), "", "whitespace string is trimmed correctly");
     }
     
     function test_04_String_indexOf(t) {