diff --git a/src/vs/editor/contrib/inlayHints/inlayHintsController.ts b/src/vs/editor/contrib/inlayHints/inlayHintsController.ts
index 6e6350d6ffc..e6b191ccfbd 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/contrib/inlayHints/inlayHintsController.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/contrib/inlayHints/inlayHintsController.ts
@@ -157,8 +157,10 @@ export class InlayHintsController implements IEditorContribution {
 				const marginBefore = whitespaceBefore ? (fontSize / 3) | 0 : 0;
 				const marginAfter = whitespaceAfter ? (fontSize / 3) | 0 : 0;
 
+				const massagedText = fixSpace(text);
+
 				const before: IContentDecorationRenderOptions = {
-					contentText: text,
+					contentText: massagedText,
 					backgroundColor: `${backgroundColor}`,
 					color: `${fontColor}`,
 					margin: `0px ${marginAfter}px 0px ${marginBefore}px`,
@@ -207,6 +209,11 @@ export class InlayHintsController implements IEditorContribution {
 	}
 }
 
+function fixSpace(str: string): string {
+	const noBreakWhitespace = '\xa0';
+	return str.replace(/[ \t]/g, noBreakWhitespace);
+}
+
 registerEditorContribution(InlayHintsController.ID, InlayHintsController);
 
 CommandsRegistry.registerCommand('_executeInlayHintProvider', async (accessor, ...args: [URI, IRange]): Promise<InlayHint[]> => {