diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.browser.test.tsx b/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.browser.test.tsx
index 3b9b114d2f9f4..3fbf36523254b 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.browser.test.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.browser.test.tsx
@@ -23,4 +23,29 @@ describe("MiddleTruncate", () => {
     expect(label()).not.toHaveAttribute("data-overflow");
     expect(label()).toHaveStyle({ clipPath: "none" });
   });
+
+  it.each([
+    ["Fix the sidebar", 7],
+    ["report\u2003\u2003draft.txt", 9],
+  ])("renders %j split as wide as whole", async (value, tail) => {
+    await using screen = await render(
+      <div>
+        <MiddleTruncate value={value} tail={tail} data-testid="split" />
+        <span data-testid="whole" className="whitespace-nowrap">
+          {value}
+        </span>
+      </div>,
+    );
+    const width = (id: string) => screen.getByTestId(id).element().getBoundingClientRect().width;
+
+    expect(width("split")).toBeCloseTo(width("whole"), 0);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the raw value's tail when collapsing its spaces", async () => {
+    await using screen = await render(<MiddleTruncate value={"longprefix a  b.txt"} />);
+
+    expect(screen.container.querySelector("[title] > span:last-child")?.textContent).toBe(
+      "x a b.txt",
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.tsx b/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.tsx
index 62dd3c58ecce3..faf8ab6b3f397 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/ui/middle-truncate.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ export function MiddleTruncate({
   showTitle?: boolean;
   variant?: "default" | "cap-aligned";
 }) {
-  const split = splitForMiddleTruncate(value, tail);
+  const raw = splitForMiddleTruncate(value, tail);
+  const split = raw && collapseSegments(raw);
   const headRef = useRef<HTMLSpanElement>(null);
   const head = split?.head;
   // oxlint-disable-next-line t3code/no-unreasoned-state-sync -- fits the head span's DOM text and refits it through a ResizeObserver
@@ -42,10 +43,12 @@ export function MiddleTruncate({
       {split ? (
         <>
           {/* The tail carries the ellipsis so it sits flush; a CSS ellipsis leaves a ragged gap. */}
-          <span ref={headRef} className="peer min-w-0 overflow-hidden">
+          <span ref={headRef} className="peer min-w-0 overflow-hidden whitespace-pre">
             {split.head}
           </span>
-          <span className="shrink-0 peer-data-overflow:before:content-['…']">{split.tail}</span>
+          <span className="shrink-0 whitespace-pre peer-data-overflow:before:content-['…']">
+            {split.tail}
+          </span>
         </>
       ) : (
         // Keyed so React does not reuse the head node and its imperative clip.
@@ -89,6 +92,16 @@ function fitHead(head: HTMLElement) {
   if (tail instanceof HTMLElement) tail.style.translate = slack > 0 ? `-${slack}px 0` : "";
 }
 
+// The segments render pre so the space at the cut survives, so collapse here what CSS
+// would have (not \s: em and no-break spaces are kept). Split first, so the tail length
+// still counts the raw value.
+function collapseSegments(split: { head: string; tail: string }) {
+  const collapse = (text: string) => text.replace(/[ \t\n\r\f]+/g, " ");
+  const head = collapse(split.head).replace(/^ /, "");
+  const tail = collapse(split.tail).replace(/ $/, "");
+  return { head, tail: head.endsWith(" ") ? tail.replace(/^ /, "") : tail };
+}
+
 const DEFAULT_TAIL = 10;
 const MAX_SEGMENT_TAIL = 16;
 const MIN_WORD_TAIL = 4;