diff --git a/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/matchers.test.ts.snap b/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/matchers.test.ts.snap
index 6f38478..d405c58 100644
--- a/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/matchers.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/matchers.test.ts.snap
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 exports[`snapshot matchers > toMatchSvgSnapshot creates a snapshot file 1`] = `
 "<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="76.8" height="20" viewBox="0 0 76.8 20" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet">
 <rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="#1e1e1e"/>
-<text x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
+<text xml:space="preserve" x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
 <tspan x="0 9.6 19.2 28.8 38.4 48 57.6 67.2">SVG Test</tspan>
 </text>
 <rect x="0" y="0" width="9.6" height="20" fill="#aeafad" opacity="0.5"/>
diff --git a/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/svg-serializer.test.ts.snap b/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/svg-serializer.test.ts.snap
index ead47d1..d7da6e6 100644
--- a/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/svg-serializer.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/viterm/tests/__snapshots__/svg-serializer.test.ts.snap
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 exports[`toMatchSvgSnapshot matcher > accepts name option > basic 1`] = `
 "<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="38.4" height="20" viewBox="0 0 38.4 20" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet">
 <rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="#1e1e1e"/>
-<text x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
+<text xml:space="preserve" x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
 <tspan x="0 9.6 19.2 28.8">Test</tspan>
 </text>
 <rect x="0" y="0" width="9.6" height="20" fill="#aeafad" opacity="0.5"/>
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ exports[`toMatchSvgSnapshot matcher > accepts name option > basic 1`] = `
 exports[`toMatchSvgSnapshot matcher > accepts theme option 1`] = `
 "<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="38.4" height="20" viewBox="0 0 38.4 20" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet">
 <rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="#000000"/>
-<text x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#ffffff">
+<text xml:space="preserve" x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#ffffff">
 <tspan x="0 9.6 19.2 28.8">Test</tspan>
 </text>
 <rect x="0" y="0" width="9.6" height="20" fill="#aeafad" opacity="0.5"/>
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ exports[`toMatchSvgSnapshot matcher > accepts theme option 1`] = `
 exports[`toMatchSvgSnapshot matcher > produces SVG output from TerminalReadable 1`] = `
 "<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="48" height="40" viewBox="0 0 48 40" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet">
 <rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="#1e1e1e"/>
-<text x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
+<text xml:space="preserve" x="0" y="16" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
 <tspan x="0 9.6 19.2 28.8 38.4">Hello</tspan>
 </text>
-<text x="0" y="36" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
+<text xml:space="preserve" x="0" y="36" font-family="&apos;TermlessMono&apos;, &apos;TermlessSymbols&apos;, &apos;TermlessNerd&apos;, &apos;TermlessEmoji&apos;, &apos;Menlo&apos;, &apos;Monaco&apos;, monospace" font-size="16" fill="#d4d4d4">
 <tspan x="0 9.6 19.2 28.8 38.4">World</tspan>
 </text>
 <rect x="0" y="0" width="9.6" height="20" fill="#aeafad" opacity="0.5"/>
diff --git a/src/render/svg.ts b/src/render/svg.ts
index 43654b6..e4769c9 100644
--- a/src/render/svg.ts
+++ b/src/render/svg.ts
@@ -433,7 +433,10 @@ function renderTextRows(lines: Cell[][], opts: ResolvedOptions): string[] {
       }
       if (!textOpen) {
         parts.push(
-          `<text x="0" y="${y}" font-family="${escapeXml(fontFamily)}" font-size="${fontSize}" fill="${themeFg}">`,
+          // xml:space="preserve" is required: without it, XML whitespace
+          // collapsing eats leading/run-of-space characters in tspans, which
+          // desyncs them from the per-character x position lists.
+          `<text xml:space="preserve" x="0" y="${y}" font-family="${escapeXml(fontFamily)}" font-size="${fontSize}" fill="${themeFg}">`,
         )
         textOpen = true
       }