diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index f20db4bea..35dd762cc 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
   end
 
   def self.search(term)
-    term.present? ? where("email = ? OR username ILIKE ?", term, "%#{term}%") : none
+    term.present? ? where("email = ? OR username ILIKE ?", term.strip, "%#{term}%") : none
   end
 
   def self.username_max_length
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index f10eefed7..0b7eb3c20 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -424,6 +424,14 @@ describe User do
       expect(search).to eq [user1]
     end
 
+    it "find users by email with whitespaces" do
+      user1 = create(:user, email: "larry@consul.dev")
+      create(:user, email: "bird@consul.dev")
+      search = User.search(" larry@consul.dev ")
+
+      expect(search).to eq [user1]
+    end
+
     it "find users by name" do
       user1 = create(:user, username: "Larry Bird")
       create(:user, username: "Robert Parish")