diff --git a/collects/framework/private/color.rkt b/collects/framework/private/color.rkt
index 0dcf771b28..d9b5349276 100644
--- a/collects/framework/private/color.rkt
+++ b/collects/framework/private/color.rkt
@@ -869,7 +869,12 @@ added get-regions
       (let loop ((cur-pos position))
         (let ((p (internal-backward-match cur-pos cutoff)))
           (cond
-            ((eq? 'open p) cur-pos)
+            ((eq? 'open p) 
+             ;; Should this function skip  
+             ;; backwards past whitespace? 
+             ;; the docs seem to indicate it
+             ;; does, but it doesn't really
+             cur-pos)
             ((not p) #f)
             (else (loop p))))))
     
@@ -1070,7 +1075,8 @@ added get-regions
       (define-values (a b) (get-token-range pos))
       (cond
         [(or (= a pos) (= b pos))
-         (define bcs (backward-containing-sexp pos 0))
+         (define raw-bcs (backward-containing-sexp pos 0))
+         (define bcs (skip-whitespace raw-bcs 'backward #t))
          (cond
            [(and bcs (> bcs 0))
             (define a (assoc (string->symbol (string (get-character (- bcs 1))))
diff --git a/collects/tests/framework/racket.rkt b/collects/tests/framework/racket.rkt
index 9f948a47dc..97c10901b7 100644
--- a/collects/tests/framework/racket.rkt
+++ b/collects/tests/framework/racket.rkt
@@ -321,6 +321,12 @@
                            '(["#| (123 abc|" "|# def 456)"]
                              ["#| (123 abc|#" " def 456)"]))
 
+(test-parens-behavior/full 'close-adjusts-properly-when-space-follows-paren
+                           "( x" "" ""
+                           #\]
+                           '(["( x)" "" ""]
+                             ["( x)" "" ""]))
+
 #| for these, the key-event with meta-down doesn't seem to work... maybe a Mac OS
   issue; and may cause problems with these tests on another platform? .nah. |#
 (when (equal? 'macosx (system-type))