diff --git a/src/spell.c b/src/spell.c
index f45be18..567c6cd 100644
--- a/src/spell.c
+++ b/src/spell.c
@@ -2268,6 +2268,8 @@
 /*
  * For spell checking: concatenate the start of the following line "line" into
  * "buf", blanking-out special characters.  Copy less then "maxlen" bytes.
+ * Keep the blanks at the start of the next line, this is used in win_line()
+ * to skip those bytes if the word was OK.
  */
     void
 spell_cat_line(buf, line, maxlen)
@@ -2284,12 +2286,14 @@
 
     if (*p != NUL)
     {
-	*buf = ' ';
-	vim_strncpy(buf + 1, line, maxlen - 2);
-	n = (int)(p - line);
-	if (n >= maxlen)
-	    n = maxlen - 1;
-	vim_memset(buf + 1, ' ', n);
+	/* Only worth concatenating if there is something else than spaces to
+	 * concatenate. */
+	n = (int)(p - line) + 1;
+	if (n < maxlen - 1)
+	{
+	    vim_memset(buf, ' ', n);
+	    vim_strncpy(buf +  n, p, maxlen - 1 - n);
+	}
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index f857903..5a3c77d 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -667,6 +667,8 @@
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
 /**/
+    290,
+/**/
     289,
 /**/
     288,