diff --git a/app/models/account.rb b/app/models/account.rb
index b81c641820eaaef2b002a962cc80e3450051cf7a..d6d718354b8cfdaa2c35517f7dc9a1334cd9cdef 100644
--- a/app/models/account.rb
+++ b/app/models/account.rb
@@ -472,6 +472,7 @@ class Account < ApplicationRecord
 
   before_create :generate_keys
   before_validation :prepare_contents, if: :local?
+  before_validation :prepare_username, on: :create
   before_destroy :clean_feed_manager
 
   private
@@ -481,6 +482,10 @@ class Account < ApplicationRecord
     note&.strip!
   end
 
+  def prepare_username
+    username&.squish!
+  end
+
   def generate_keys
     return unless local? && !Rails.env.test?
 
diff --git a/spec/models/account_spec.rb b/spec/models/account_spec.rb
index f7f78d34c616099bef1ec1743b7b2562667776ef..46886b91f5422f14d62785295bbc8232f5c82b8b 100644
--- a/spec/models/account_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/account_spec.rb
@@ -558,6 +558,11 @@ RSpec.describe Account, type: :model do
       expect(account).to model_have_error_on_field(:username)
     end
 
+    it 'squishes the username before validation' do
+      account = Fabricate(:account, domain: nil, username: " \u3000bob \t \u00a0 \n ")
+      expect(account.username).to eq 'bob'
+    end
+
     context 'when is local' do
       it 'is invalid if the username is not unique in case-insensitive comparison among local accounts' do
         account_1 = Fabricate(:account, username: 'the_doctor')