diff --git a/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee b/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
index a16554f84..a6c67536f 100644
--- a/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
   afterEach ->
     fixturesProject.destroy()
 
-  fdescribe "cursor", ->
+  describe "cursor", ->
     describe ".getCursor()", ->
       it "returns the most recently created cursor", ->
         editSession.addCursorAtScreenPosition([1, 0])
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
           editSession.moveCursorToFirstCharacterOfLine()
           expect(editSession.getCursorBufferPosition()).toEqual [10, 0]
 
-    describe ".moveCursorToBeginningOfWord()", ->
+    fdescribe ".moveCursorToBeginningOfWord()", ->
       it "moves the cursor to the beginning of the word", ->
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition [0, 8]
         editSession.addCursorAtBufferPosition [1, 12]
@@ -283,12 +283,17 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([0, 0])
         editSession.moveCursorToBeginningOfWord()
 
-      it "works when the previous line is blank", ->
+      it "treats lines with only whitespace as a word", ->
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([11, 0])
         editSession.moveCursorToBeginningOfWord()
         expect(editSession.getCursorBufferPosition()).toEqual [10, 0]
 
-    describe ".moveCursorToEndOfWord()", ->
+      it "works when the current line is blank", ->
+        editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([10, 0])
+        editSession.moveCursorToBeginningOfWord()
+        expect(editSession.getCursorBufferPosition()).toEqual [9, 2]
+
+    fdescribe ".moveCursorToEndOfWord()", ->
       it "moves the cursor to the end of the word", ->
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition [0, 6]
         editSession.addCursorAtBufferPosition [1, 10]
@@ -298,8 +303,8 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
         editSession.moveCursorToEndOfWord()
 
         expect(cursor1.getBufferPosition()).toEqual [0, 13]
-        expect(cursor2.getBufferPosition()).toEqual [1, 13]
-        expect(cursor3.getBufferPosition()).toEqual [3, 4]
+        expect(cursor2.getBufferPosition()).toEqual [1, 12]
+        expect(cursor3.getBufferPosition()).toEqual [3, 7]
 
       it "does not blow up when there is no next word", ->
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition [Infinity, Infinity]
@@ -307,6 +312,17 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
         editSession.moveCursorToEndOfWord()
         expect(editSession.getCursorBufferPosition()).toEqual endPosition
 
+      it "treats lines with only whitespace as a word", ->
+        editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([9, 4])
+        editSession.moveCursorToEndOfWord()
+        expect(editSession.getCursorBufferPosition()).toEqual [10, 0]
+
+      it "works when the current line is blank", ->
+        editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([10, 0])
+        editSession.moveCursorToEndOfWord()
+        expect(editSession.getCursorBufferPosition()).toEqual [11, 8]
+
+
     describe ".getCurrentParagraphBufferRange()", ->
       it "returns the buffer range of the current paragraph, delimited by blank lines or the beginning / end of the file", ->
         buffer.setText """
diff --git a/src/app/cursor.coffee b/src/app/cursor.coffee
index cc4c13c30..46ff27d5b 100644
--- a/src/app/cursor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/cursor.coffee
@@ -142,6 +142,10 @@ class Cursor
     if position = @getEndOfCurrentWordBufferPosition()
       @setBufferPosition(position)
 
+  wordSeparatorsRegExp: ->
+    wordSeparators = config.get("editor.wordSeparators")
+    new RegExp("^[\t ]*$|[^\\s#{_.escapeRegExp(wordSeparators)}]+|[#{_.escapeRegExp(wordSeparators)}]+", "mg")
+
   getBeginningOfCurrentWordBufferPosition: (options = {}) ->
     allowPrevious = options.allowPrevious ? true
     currentBufferPosition = @getBufferPosition()
@@ -150,12 +154,10 @@ class Cursor
 
     beginningOfWordPosition = currentBufferPosition
 
-    wordSeparators = config.get("editor.wordSeparators")
-    wordSeparatorsRegex = new RegExp("^[\t ]*\n|[^\\s#{_.escapeRegExp(wordSeparators)}]+|[#{_.escapeRegExp(wordSeparators)}]+", "m")
-    @editSession.backwardsScanInRange (options.wordRegex ? wordSeparatorsRegex), previousLinesRange, (match, matchRange, { stop }) =>
+    @editSession.backwardsScanInRange (options.wordRegex ? @wordSeparatorsRegExp()), previousLinesRange, (match, matchRange, { stop }) =>
       if matchRange.end.isGreaterThanOrEqual(currentBufferPosition) or allowPrevious
         beginningOfWordPosition = matchRange.start
-      stop()
+      stop() unless beginningOfWordPosition.isEqual(currentBufferPosition)
 
     beginningOfWordPosition
 
@@ -165,8 +167,11 @@ class Cursor
     range = [currentBufferPosition, @editSession.getEofBufferPosition()]
 
     endOfWordPosition = null
-    @editSession.scanInRange (options.wordRegex ? config.get("editor.wordRegex")), range, (match, matchRange, { stop }) =>
+    @editSession.scanInRange (options.wordRegex ? @wordSeparatorsRegExp()),
+    range, (match, matchRange, { stop }) =>
       endOfWordPosition = matchRange.end
+      return if endOfWordPosition.isEqual(currentBufferPosition)
+
       if not allowNext and matchRange.start.isGreaterThan(currentBufferPosition)
         endOfWordPosition = currentBufferPosition
       stop()