diff --git a/src/cursor.coffee b/src/cursor.coffee
index 4e28f41cb..789cb1ba6 100644
--- a/src/cursor.coffee
+++ b/src/cursor.coffee
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ class Cursor extends Model
   # Returns a {Boolean}.
   isSurroundedByWhitespace: ->
     {row, column} = @getBufferPosition()
-    range = [[row, Math.max(0, column - 1)], [row, Math.max(0, column + 1)]]
+    range = [[row, column - 1], [row, column + 1]]
     /^\s+$/.test @editor.getTextInBufferRange(range)
 
   # Public: Returns whether the cursor is currently between a word and non-word