diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
index 1ebf44aeb7..d4a21e2c8c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ _title_pat = re.compile('^(A|The|An)\s+', re.IGNORECASE)
 _ignore_starts = u'\'"'+u''.join(unichr(x) for x in range(0x2018, 0x201e)+[0x2032, 0x2033])
 
 def title_sort(title):
+    title = title.strip()
     if title and title[0] in _ignore_starts:
         title = title[1:]
     match = _title_pat.search(title)