diff --git a/cgit.c b/cgit.c
index e9bafb5..9452884 100644
--- a/cgit.c
+++ b/cgit.c
@@ -252,6 +252,8 @@ static void querystring_cb(const char *name, const char *value)
 		ctx.qry.ssdiff = atoi(value);
 	} else if (!strcmp(name, "context")) {
 		ctx.qry.context = atoi(value);
+	} else if (!strcmp(name, "ignorews")) {
+		ctx.qry.ignorews = atoi(value);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/cgit.h b/cgit.h
index bb8f598..1bdfbc6 100644
--- a/cgit.h
+++ b/cgit.h
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ struct cgit_query {
 	int showmsg;
 	int ssdiff;
 	int context;
+	int ignorews;
 	char *vpath;
 };
 
@@ -275,11 +276,12 @@ extern void *cgit_free_commitinfo(struct commitinfo *info);
 extern int cgit_diff_files(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 			   const unsigned char *new_sha1,
 			   unsigned long *old_size, unsigned long *new_size,
-			   int *binary, int context, linediff_fn fn);
+			   int *binary, int context, int ignorews,
+			   linediff_fn fn);
 
 extern void cgit_diff_tree(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 			   const unsigned char *new_sha1,
-			   filepair_fn fn, const char *prefix);
+			   filepair_fn fn, const char *prefix, int ignorews);
 
 extern void cgit_diff_commit(struct commit *commit, filepair_fn fn);
 
diff --git a/shared.c b/shared.c
index 7cf1e59..d0973ab 100644
--- a/shared.c
+++ b/shared.c
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ int filediff_cb(void *priv, mmbuffer_t *mb, int nbuf)
 int cgit_diff_files(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 		    const unsigned char *new_sha1, unsigned long *old_size,
 		    unsigned long *new_size, int *binary, int context,
-		    linediff_fn fn)
+		    int ignorews, linediff_fn fn)
 {
 	mmfile_t file1, file2;
 	xpparam_t diff_params;
@@ -286,6 +286,8 @@ int cgit_diff_files(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 	memset(&emit_params, 0, sizeof(emit_params));
 	memset(&emit_cb, 0, sizeof(emit_cb));
 	diff_params.flags = XDF_NEED_MINIMAL;
+	if (ignorews)
+		diff_params.flags |= XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE;
 	emit_params.ctxlen = context > 0 ? context : 3;
 	emit_params.flags = XDL_EMIT_FUNCNAMES;
 	emit_cb.outf = filediff_cb;
@@ -296,7 +298,7 @@ int cgit_diff_files(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 
 void cgit_diff_tree(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 		    const unsigned char *new_sha1,
-		    filepair_fn fn, const char *prefix)
+		    filepair_fn fn, const char *prefix, int ignorews)
 {
 	struct diff_options opt;
 	int ret;
@@ -307,6 +309,8 @@ void cgit_diff_tree(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 	opt.detect_rename = 1;
 	opt.rename_limit = ctx.cfg.renamelimit;
 	DIFF_OPT_SET(&opt, RECURSIVE);
+	if (ignorews)
+		DIFF_XDL_SET(&opt, IGNORE_WHITESPACE);
 	opt.format_callback = cgit_diff_tree_cb;
 	opt.format_callback_data = fn;
 	if (prefix) {
@@ -331,7 +335,8 @@ void cgit_diff_commit(struct commit *commit, filepair_fn fn)
 
 	if (commit->parents)
 		old_sha1 = commit->parents->item->object.sha1;
-	cgit_diff_tree(old_sha1, commit->object.sha1, fn, NULL);
+	cgit_diff_tree(old_sha1, commit->object.sha1, fn, NULL,
+		       ctx.qry.ignorews);
 }
 
 int cgit_parse_snapshots_mask(const char *str)
diff --git a/ui-diff.c b/ui-diff.c
index e0a72f7..1656b77 100644
--- a/ui-diff.c
+++ b/ui-diff.c
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ static void inspect_filepair(struct diff_filepair *pair)
 	lines_added = 0;
 	lines_removed = 0;
 	cgit_diff_files(pair->one->sha1, pair->two->sha1, &old_size, &new_size,
-			&binary, 0, count_diff_lines);
+			&binary, 0, ctx.qry.ignorews, count_diff_lines);
 	if (files >= slots) {
 		if (slots == 0)
 			slots = 4;
@@ -174,7 +174,8 @@ void cgit_print_diffstat(const unsigned char *old_sha1,
 	html("</div>");
 	html("<table summary='diffstat' class='diffstat'>");
 	max_changes = 0;
-	cgit_diff_tree(old_sha1, new_sha1, inspect_filepair, prefix);
+	cgit_diff_tree(old_sha1, new_sha1, inspect_filepair, prefix,
+		       ctx.qry.ignorews);
 	for(i = 0; i<files; i++)
 		print_fileinfo(&items[i]);
 	html("</table>");
@@ -296,7 +297,8 @@ static void filepair_cb(struct diff_filepair *pair)
 		return;
 	}
 	if (cgit_diff_files(pair->one->sha1, pair->two->sha1, &old_size,
-			    &new_size, &binary, ctx.qry.context, print_line_fn))
+			    &new_size, &binary, ctx.qry.context,
+			    ctx.qry.ignorews, print_line_fn))
 		cgit_print_error("Error running diff");
 	if (binary) {
 		if (use_ssdiff)
@@ -356,7 +358,8 @@ void cgit_print_diff(const char *new_rev, const char *old_rev, const char *prefi
 		html("<table summary='diff' class='diff'>");
 		html("<tr><td>");
 	}
-	cgit_diff_tree(old_rev_sha1, new_rev_sha1, filepair_cb, prefix);
+	cgit_diff_tree(old_rev_sha1, new_rev_sha1, filepair_cb, prefix,
+		       ctx.qry.ignorews);
 	if (!use_ssdiff)
 		html("</td></tr>");
 	html("</table>");
diff --git a/ui-log.c b/ui-log.c
index 5eb5c81..354ee08 100644
--- a/ui-log.c
+++ b/ui-log.c
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ void inspect_files(struct diff_filepair *pair)
 	files++;
 	if (ctx.repo->enable_log_linecount)
 		cgit_diff_files(pair->one->sha1, pair->two->sha1, &old_size,
-				&new_size, &binary, 0, count_lines);
+				&new_size, &binary, 0, ctx.qry.ignorews,
+				count_lines);
 }
 
 void show_commit_decorations(struct commit *commit)
diff --git a/ui-patch.c b/ui-patch.c
index d13104c..ca008f3 100644
--- a/ui-patch.c
+++ b/ui-patch.c
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ static void filepair_cb(struct diff_filepair *pair)
 		return;
 	}
 	if (cgit_diff_files(pair->one->sha1, pair->two->sha1, &old_size,
-			    &new_size, &binary, 0, print_line))
+			    &new_size, &binary, 0, 0, print_line))
 		html("Error running diff");
 	if (binary)
 		html("Binary files differ\n");
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ void cgit_print_patch(char *hex, const char *prefix)
 	html("---\n");
 	if (prefix)
 		htmlf("(limited to '%s')\n\n", prefix);
-	cgit_diff_tree(old_sha1, sha1, filepair_cb, prefix);
+	cgit_diff_tree(old_sha1, sha1, filepair_cb, prefix, 0);
 	html("--\n");
 	htmlf("cgit %s\n", CGIT_VERSION);
 	cgit_free_commitinfo(info);