diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/XML.java b/src/main/java/org/json/XML.java
index a94c3fc..9d42bb3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/XML.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/XML.java
@@ -431,6 +431,9 @@ public class XML {
                                             && jsonObject.opt(config.getcDataTagName()) != null) {
                                         context.accumulate(tagName, jsonObject.opt(config.getcDataTagName()));
                                     } else {
+                                        if (!config.shouldTrimWhiteSpace()) {
+                                            removeEmpty(jsonObject, config);
+                                        }
                                         context.accumulate(tagName, jsonObject);
                                     }
                                 }
@@ -445,6 +448,48 @@ public class XML {
             }
         }
     }
+    /**
+     * This method removes any JSON entry which has the key set by XMLParserConfiguration.cDataTagName
+     * and contains whitespace as this is caused by whitespace between tags. See test XMLTest.testNestedWithWhitespaceTrimmingDisabled.
+     * @param jsonObject JSONObject which may require deletion
+     * @param config The XMLParserConfiguration which includes the cDataTagName
+     */
+    private static void removeEmpty(final JSONObject jsonObject, final XMLParserConfiguration config) {
+        if (jsonObject.has(config.getcDataTagName()))  {
+            final Object s = jsonObject.get(config.getcDataTagName());
+            if (s instanceof String) {
+                if (isStringAllWhiteSpace(s.toString())) {
+                    jsonObject.remove(config.getcDataTagName());
+                }
+            }
+            else if (s instanceof JSONArray) {
+                final JSONArray sArray = (JSONArray) s;
+                for (int k = sArray.length()-1; k >= 0; k--){
+                    final Object eachString = sArray.get(k);
+                    if (eachString instanceof String) {
+                        String s1 = (String) eachString;
+                        if (isStringAllWhiteSpace(s1)) {
+                            sArray.remove(k);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                if (sArray.isEmpty()) {
+                    jsonObject.remove(config.getcDataTagName());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static boolean isStringAllWhiteSpace(final String s) {
+        for (int k = 0; k<s.length(); k++){
+            final char eachChar = s.charAt(k);
+            if (!Character.isWhitespace(eachChar)) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+
 
     /**
      * This method tries to convert the given string value to the target object
@@ -594,7 +639,7 @@ public class XML {
      */
     public static JSONObject toJSONObject(Reader reader, XMLParserConfiguration config) throws JSONException {
         JSONObject jo = new JSONObject();
-        XMLTokener x = new XMLTokener(reader);
+        XMLTokener x = new XMLTokener(reader, config);
         while (x.more()) {
             x.skipPast("<");
             if(x.more()) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/XMLParserConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/org/json/XMLParserConfiguration.java
index 0ac7834..5087aa1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/XMLParserConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/XMLParserConfiguration.java
@@ -61,9 +61,18 @@ public class XMLParserConfiguration extends ParserConfiguration {
      */
     private Set<String> forceList;
 
+
+    /**
+     * Flag to indicate whether white space should be trimmed when parsing XML.
+     * The default behaviour is to trim white space. When this is set to false, inputting XML
+     * with tags that are the same as the value of cDataTagName is unsupported. It is recommended to set cDataTagName
+     * to a distinct value in this case.
+     */
+    private boolean shouldTrimWhiteSpace;
+
     /**
      * Default parser configuration. Does not keep strings (tries to implicitly convert
-     * values), and the CDATA Tag Name is "content".
+     * values), and the CDATA Tag Name is "content". Trims whitespace.
      */
     public XMLParserConfiguration () {
         super();
@@ -71,6 +80,7 @@ public class XMLParserConfiguration extends ParserConfiguration {
         this.convertNilAttributeToNull = false;
         this.xsiTypeMap = Collections.emptyMap();
         this.forceList = Collections.emptySet();
+        this.shouldTrimWhiteSpace = true;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -172,7 +182,7 @@ public class XMLParserConfiguration extends ParserConfiguration {
         // item, a new map instance should be created and if possible each value in the
         // map should be cloned as well. If the values of the map are known to also
         // be immutable, then a shallow clone of the map is acceptable.
-        return new XMLParserConfiguration(
+        final XMLParserConfiguration config = new XMLParserConfiguration(
                 this.keepStrings,
                 this.cDataTagName,
                 this.convertNilAttributeToNull,
@@ -181,6 +191,8 @@ public class XMLParserConfiguration extends ParserConfiguration {
                 this.maxNestingDepth,
                 this.closeEmptyTag
         );
+        config.shouldTrimWhiteSpace = this.shouldTrimWhiteSpace;
+        return config;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -327,7 +339,23 @@ public class XMLParserConfiguration extends ParserConfiguration {
         return clonedConfiguration;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets whether whitespace should be trimmed inside of tags. *NOTE* Do not use this if
+     * you expect your XML tags to have names that are the same as cDataTagName as this is unsupported.
+     * cDataTagName should be set to a distinct value in these cases.
+     * @param shouldTrimWhiteSpace boolean to set trimming on or off. Off is default.
+     * @return same instance of configuration with empty tag config updated
+     */
+    public XMLParserConfiguration withShouldTrimWhitespace(boolean shouldTrimWhiteSpace){
+        XMLParserConfiguration clonedConfiguration = this.clone();
+        clonedConfiguration.shouldTrimWhiteSpace = shouldTrimWhiteSpace;
+        return clonedConfiguration;
+    }
+
     public boolean isCloseEmptyTag() {
         return this.closeEmptyTag;
     }
+    public boolean shouldTrimWhiteSpace() {
+        return this.shouldTrimWhiteSpace;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/XMLTokener.java b/src/main/java/org/json/XMLTokener.java
index 957498c..bc18b31 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/XMLTokener.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/XMLTokener.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ public class XMLTokener extends JSONTokener {
     */
    public static final java.util.HashMap<String, Character> entity;
 
+   private XMLParserConfiguration configuration = XMLParserConfiguration.ORIGINAL;
+
    static {
        entity = new java.util.HashMap<String, Character>(8);
        entity.put("amp",  XML.AMP);
@@ -45,6 +47,16 @@ public class XMLTokener extends JSONTokener {
         super(s);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Construct an XMLTokener from a Reader and an XMLParserConfiguration.
+     * @param r A source reader.
+     * @param configuration the configuration that can be used to set certain flags
+     */
+    public XMLTokener(Reader r, XMLParserConfiguration configuration) {
+        super(r);
+        this.configuration = configuration;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Get the text in the CDATA block.
      * @return The string up to the <code>]]&gt;</code>.
@@ -83,7 +95,7 @@ public class XMLTokener extends JSONTokener {
         StringBuilder sb;
         do {
             c = next();
-        } while (Character.isWhitespace(c));
+        } while (Character.isWhitespace(c) && configuration.shouldTrimWhiteSpace());
         if (c == 0) {
             return null;
         }
@@ -97,7 +109,9 @@ public class XMLTokener extends JSONTokener {
             }
             if (c == '<') {
                 back();
-                return sb.toString().trim();
+                if (configuration.shouldTrimWhiteSpace()) {
+                    return sb.toString().trim();
+                } else return sb.toString();
             }
             if (c == '&') {
                 sb.append(nextEntity(c));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLConfigurationTest.java b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLConfigurationTest.java
index ffdc20c..ba8418c 100755
--- a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLConfigurationTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLConfigurationTest.java
@@ -1181,4 +1181,4 @@ public class XMLConfigurationTest {
             assertTrue("Error: " +e.getMessage(), false);
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLTest.java b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLTest.java
index 823a065..9ae1ee2 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/XMLTest.java
@@ -1323,6 +1323,80 @@ public class XMLTest {
                 "parameter of the XMLParserConfiguration used");
         }
     }
+    @Test
+    public void testWithWhitespaceTrimmingDisabled() {
+        String originalXml = "<testXml> Test Whitespace String \t </testXml>";
+
+        JSONObject actualJson = XML.toJSONObject(originalXml, new XMLParserConfiguration().withShouldTrimWhitespace(false));
+        String expectedJsonString = "{\"testXml\":\" Test Whitespace String \t \"}";
+        JSONObject expectedJson = new JSONObject(expectedJsonString);
+        Util.compareActualVsExpectedJsonObjects(actualJson,expectedJson);
+    }
+    @Test
+    public void testNestedWithWhitespaceTrimmingDisabled() {
+        String originalXml =
+                "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n"+
+                        "<addresses>\n"+
+                        "   <address>\n"+
+                        "      <name> Sherlock Holmes </name>\n"+
+                        "   </address>\n"+
+                        "</addresses>";
+
+        JSONObject actualJson = XML.toJSONObject(originalXml, new XMLParserConfiguration().withShouldTrimWhitespace(false));
+        String expectedJsonString = "{\"addresses\":{\"address\":{\"name\":\" Sherlock Holmes \"}}}";
+        JSONObject expectedJson = new JSONObject(expectedJsonString);
+        Util.compareActualVsExpectedJsonObjects(actualJson,expectedJson);
+    }
+    @Test
+    public void shouldTrimWhitespaceDoesNotSupportTagsEqualingCDataTagName() {
+    // When using withShouldTrimWhitespace = true, input containing tags with same name as cDataTagName is unsupported and should not be used in conjunction
+        String originalXml =
+                "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n"+
+                        "<addresses>\n"+
+                        "   <address>\n"+
+                        "      <content> Sherlock Holmes </content>\n"+
+                        "   </address>\n"+
+                        "</addresses>";
+
+        JSONObject actualJson = XML.toJSONObject(originalXml, new XMLParserConfiguration().withShouldTrimWhitespace(false).withcDataTagName("content"));
+        String expectedJsonString = "{\"addresses\":{\"address\":[[\"\\n      \",\" Sherlock Holmes \",\"\\n   \"]]}}";
+        JSONObject expectedJson = new JSONObject(expectedJsonString);
+        Util.compareActualVsExpectedJsonObjects(actualJson,expectedJson);
+    }
+    @Test
+    public void shouldTrimWhitespaceEnabledDropsTagsEqualingCDataTagNameButValueRemains() {
+        String originalXml =
+                "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n"+
+                        "<addresses>\n"+
+                        "   <address>\n"+
+                        "      <content> Sherlock Holmes </content>\n"+
+                        "   </address>\n"+
+                        "</addresses>";
+
+        JSONObject actualJson = XML.toJSONObject(originalXml, new XMLParserConfiguration().withShouldTrimWhitespace(true).withcDataTagName("content"));
+        String expectedJsonString = "{\"addresses\":{\"address\":\"Sherlock Holmes\"}}";
+        JSONObject expectedJson = new JSONObject(expectedJsonString);
+        Util.compareActualVsExpectedJsonObjects(actualJson,expectedJson);
+    }
+    @Test
+    public void testWithWhitespaceTrimmingEnabled() {
+        String originalXml = "<testXml> Test Whitespace String \t </testXml>";
+
+        JSONObject actualJson = XML.toJSONObject(originalXml, new XMLParserConfiguration().withShouldTrimWhitespace(true));
+        String expectedJsonString = "{\"testXml\":\"Test Whitespace String\"}";
+        JSONObject expectedJson = new JSONObject(expectedJsonString);
+        Util.compareActualVsExpectedJsonObjects(actualJson,expectedJson);
+    }
+    @Test
+    public void testWithWhitespaceTrimmingEnabledByDefault() {
+        String originalXml = "<testXml> Test Whitespace String \t </testXml>";
+
+        JSONObject actualJson = XML.toJSONObject(originalXml, new XMLParserConfiguration());
+        String expectedJsonString = "{\"testXml\":\"Test Whitespace String\"}";
+        JSONObject expectedJson = new JSONObject(expectedJsonString);
+        Util.compareActualVsExpectedJsonObjects(actualJson,expectedJson);
+    }
+
 }