diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index e6c857abf4..ea8ecae041 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -1299,6 +1299,7 @@ static void emit_diff_symbol_from_struct(struct diff_options *o,
 				set = diff_get_color_opt(o, DIFF_FRAGINFO);
 			else if (c != '+')
 				set = diff_get_color_opt(o, DIFF_CONTEXT);
+			flags &= ~DIFF_SYMBOL_CONTENT_WS_MASK;
 		}
 		emit_line_ws_markup(o, set, reset, line, len, set_sign, '+',
 				    flags & DIFF_SYMBOL_CONTENT_WS_MASK,