diff --git a/src/reactTemplates.js b/src/reactTemplates.js
index 54c906b..3b43945 100644
--- a/src/reactTemplates.js
+++ b/src/reactTemplates.js
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ const cheerio = require('cheerio');
 const _ = require('lodash');
 const esprima = require('esprima');
 const escodegen = require('escodegen');
-const normalizeHtmlWhitespace = require('normalize-html-whitespace');
 const reactDOMSupport = require('./reactDOMSupport');
 const reactNativeSupport = require('./reactNativeSupport');
 const reactPropTemplates = require('./reactPropTemplates');
@@ -440,15 +439,11 @@ function convertHtmlToReact(node, context) {
         const sanitizedComment = node.data.split('*/').join('* /');
         return commentTemplate({data: sanitizedComment});
     } else if (node.type === 'text') {
-        let text = node.data;
         const parentNode = node.parent;
-        if (parentNode !== undefined) {
-            const preserveWhitespaces = parentNode.name === 'pre' || parentNode.name === 'textarea' || _.has(parentNode.attribs, preAttr);
-            if (context.options.normalizeHtmlWhitespace && !preserveWhitespaces) {
-                text = normalizeHtmlWhitespace(text);
-            }
-        }        
-        return trimHtmlText(text) ? utils.convertText(node, context, text) : '';        
+        const overrideNormalize = parentNode !== undefined && (parentNode.name === 'pre' || parentNode.name === 'textarea' || _.has(parentNode.attribs, preAttr));
+        const normalizeWhitespaces = context.options.normalizeHtmlWhitespace && !overrideNormalize;
+        const text = node.data;
+        return trimHtmlText(text) ? utils.convertText(node, context, text, normalizeWhitespaces) : '';
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils.js b/src/utils.js
index 34af0ac..b9917c2 100644
--- a/src/utils.js
+++ b/src/utils.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 const _ = require('lodash');
 const esprima = require('esprima');
+const normalizeHtmlWhitespace = require('normalize-html-whitespace');
 const rtError = require('./RTCodeError');
 const RTCodeError = rtError.RTCodeError;
 
@@ -142,13 +143,24 @@ const curlyMap = {'{': 1, '}': -1};
  * @typedef {{fileName:string,force:boolean,modules:string,defines:*,reactImportPath:string=,lodashImportPath:string=,flow:boolean,name:string,native:boolean,propTemplates:*,format:string,_:*,version:boolean,help:boolean,listTargetVersion:boolean,modules:string, dryRun:boolean}} Options
  */
 
+/**
+ * @param {string} txt
+ * @param {boolean} removeWhitespaces
+ * @return {string}
+ */
+function jsonText(txt, normalizeWhitespaces) {
+    const text = normalizeWhitespaces ? normalizeHtmlWhitespace(txt) : txt;
+    return JSON.stringify(text);
+}
+
 /**
  * @param node
  * @param {Context} context
  * @param {string} txt
+ * @param {boolean} [removeWhitespaces]
  * @return {string}
  */
-function convertText(node, context, txt) {
+function convertText(node, context, txt, normalizeWhitespaces) {
     let res = '';
     let first = true;
     const concatChar = node.type === 'text' ? ',' : '+';
@@ -156,7 +168,7 @@ function convertText(node, context, txt) {
         const start = txt.indexOf('{');
         const pre = txt.substr(0, start);
         if (pre) {
-            res += (first ? '' : concatChar) + JSON.stringify(pre);
+            res += (first ? '' : concatChar) + jsonText(pre, normalizeWhitespaces);
             first = false;
         }
         let curlyCounter = 1;
@@ -174,7 +186,7 @@ function convertText(node, context, txt) {
         }
     }
     if (txt) {
-        res += (first ? '' : concatChar) + JSON.stringify(txt);
+        res += (first ? '' : concatChar) + jsonText(txt, normalizeWhitespaces);
     }
     if (res === '') {
         res = 'true';
diff --git a/test/data/whitespace.rt b/test/data/whitespace.rt
index 57fbe1d..318f22c 100644
--- a/test/data/whitespace.rt
+++ b/test/data/whitespace.rt
@@ -1,23 +1,24 @@
 <div>
     <div>
-        This   is  a      
-        {this.props.name}  
+        This   is  a
+        {this.props.name}
         example
     </div>
     <div>    &#160;   </div>
+    <div>{"    aaa    "}</div>
     <pre>
-        This   is  a   
-        {this.props.name}  
+        This   is  a
+        {this.props.name}
         example
     </pre>
     <textarea>
-        This   is  a   
-        {this.props.name}  
+        This   is  a
+        {this.props.name}
         example
     <textarea>
     <div rt-pre>
-        This   is  a   
-        {this.props.name}  
+        This   is  a
+        {this.props.name}
         example
     </pre>
 </div>
diff --git a/test/data/whitespace.rt.js b/test/data/whitespace.rt.js
index 6746674..7c0dc76 100644
--- a/test/data/whitespace.rt.js
+++ b/test/data/whitespace.rt.js
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ define([
 ], function (React, _) {
     'use strict';
     return function () {
-        return React.createElement('div', {}, React.createElement('div', {}, ' This is a ', this.props.name, ' example '), React.createElement('div', {}, ' \xA0 '), React.createElement('pre', {}, '\n        This   is  a   \n        ', this.props.name, '  \n        example\n    '), React.createElement('textarea', {}, '\n        This   is  a   \n        ', this.props.name, '  \n        example\n    ', React.createElement('textarea', {}, React.createElement('div', {}, '\n        This   is  a   \n        ', this.props.name, '  \n        example\n    \n'))));
+        return React.createElement('div', {}, React.createElement('div', {}, ' This is a ', this.props.name, ' example '), React.createElement('div', {}, ' \xA0 '), React.createElement('div', {}, '    aaa    '), React.createElement('pre', {}, '\n        This   is  a\n        ', this.props.name, '\n        example\n    '), React.createElement('textarea', {}, '\n        This   is  a\n        ', this.props.name, '\n        example\n    ', React.createElement('textarea', {}, React.createElement('div', {}, '\n        This   is  a\n        ', this.props.name, '\n        example\n    \n'))));
     };
 });
\ No newline at end of file