diff --git a/git-gui/lib/spellcheck.tcl b/git-gui/lib/spellcheck.tcl
index 78f344f08f34842c134b6b0e22b6eb8c49b1dbbd..a479b2f2857751d4d573c7bfe00f9e671d437aed 100644
--- a/git-gui/lib/spellcheck.tcl
+++ b/git-gui/lib/spellcheck.tcl
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ method _connect {pipe_fd} {
 		error_popup [strcat [mc "Unrecognized spell checker"] ":\n\n$s_version"]
 		return
 	}
-	set s_version [string range $s_version 5 end]
+	set s_version [string range [string trim $s_version] 5 end]
 	regexp \
 		{International Ispell Version .* \(but really (Aspell .*?)\)$} \
 		$s_version _junk s_version