diff --git a/C4/AuthoritiesMarc.pm b/C4/AuthoritiesMarc.pm
index 02f9103de3..d21e7c059c 100644
--- a/C4/AuthoritiesMarc.pm
+++ b/C4/AuthoritiesMarc.pm
@@ -655,9 +655,13 @@ sub AddAuthority {
     $field->update($auth_type_subfield=>$authtypecode);
   }
   else {
-    $record->add_fields($auth_type_tag,'','', $auth_type_subfield=>$authtypecode); 
+    $record->add_fields($auth_type_tag,'','', $auth_type_subfield=>$authtypecode);
   }
 
+    if ( C4::Context->preference('StripWhitespaceChars') ) {
+        $record = Koha::MetadataRecord::stripWhitespaceChars( $record );
+    }
+
     # Save record into auth_header, update 001
     my $action;
     my $authority;
diff --git a/C4/Biblio.pm b/C4/Biblio.pm
index dbb4026816..cc88b20871 100644
--- a/C4/Biblio.pm
+++ b/C4/Biblio.pm
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ use Koha::SearchEngine;
 use Koha::SearchEngine::Indexer;
 use Koha::Libraries;
 use Koha::Util::MARC;
+use Koha::MetadataRecord;
 
 =head1 NAME
 
@@ -2811,6 +2812,10 @@ sub ModBiblioMarc {
       $f005->update(sprintf("%4d%02d%02d%02d%02d%04.1f",@a)) if $f005;
     }
 
+    if ( C4::Context->preference('StripWhitespaceChars') ) {
+        $record = Koha::MetadataRecord::stripWhitespaceChars( $record );
+    }
+
     my $metadata = {
         biblionumber => $biblionumber,
         format       => 'marcxml',
diff --git a/Koha/MetadataRecord.pm b/Koha/MetadataRecord.pm
index 6f0aa1fb4b..bb7ec62be0 100644
--- a/Koha/MetadataRecord.pm
+++ b/Koha/MetadataRecord.pm
@@ -108,4 +108,31 @@ sub createMergeHash {
     }
 }
 
+=head2 stripWhitespaceChars
+
+    $record = Koha::MetadataRecord::stripWhitespaceChars( $record );
+
+Strip leading and trailing whitespace characters from input fields.
+
+=cut
+
+sub stripWhitespaceChars {
+    my ( $record ) = @_;
+
+    foreach my $field ( $record->fields ) {
+        unless ( $field->is_control_field ) {
+            foreach my $subfield ( $field->subfields ) {
+                my $key = $subfield->[0];
+                my $value = $subfield->[1];
+                $value =~ s/[\n\r]+/ /g;
+                $value =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//g;
+                $field->add_subfields( $key => $value ); # add subfield to the end of the subfield list
+                $field->delete_subfield( pos => 0 ); # delete the subfield at the top of the subfield list
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    return $record;
+}
+
 1;
diff --git a/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_30358_-_add_StripWhitespaceChars_syspref.pl b/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_30358_-_add_StripWhitespaceChars_syspref.pl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1a6f0356e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_30358_-_add_StripWhitespaceChars_syspref.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+use Modern::Perl;
+
+return {
+    bug_number => "30358",
+    description => "Add new system preference StripWhitespaceChars",
+    up => sub {
+        my ($args) = @_;
+        my ($dbh, $out) = @$args{qw(dbh out)};
+
+        $dbh->do(q{INSERT IGNORE INTO systempreferences (variable,value,options,explanation,type) VALUES ('StripWhitespaceChars', '0', NULL, 'Strip leading and trailing whitespace characters and inner newlines from input fields when cataloguing bibliographic and authority records.', 'YesNo') });
+    },
+};
diff --git a/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql b/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
index 2f1b46d889..7a7e9ab821 100644
--- a/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
+++ b/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
@@ -699,6 +699,7 @@ INSERT INTO systempreferences ( `variable`, `value`, `options`, `explanation`, `
 ('StatisticsFields','location|itype|ccode', NULL, 'Define Fields (from the items table) used for statistics members','Free'),
 ('StockRotation','0',NULL,'If ON, enables the stock rotation module','YesNo'),
 ('StoreLastBorrower','0','','If ON, the last borrower to return an item will be stored in items.last_returned_by','YesNo'),
+('StripWhitespaceChars','0',NULL,'Strip leading and trailing whitespace characters and inner newlines from input fields when cataloguing bibliographic and authority records.','YesNo'),
 ('SubfieldsToAllowForRestrictedBatchmod','','Define a list of subfields for which edition is authorized when items_batchmod_restricted permission is enabled, separated by spaces. Example: 995\$f 995\$h 995\$j',NULL,'Free'),
 ('SubfieldsToAllowForRestrictedEditing','','Define a list of subfields for which edition is authorized when edit_items_restricted permission is enabled, separated by spaces. Example: 995\$f 995\$h 995\$j',NULL,'Free'),
 ('SubfieldsToUseWhenPrefill','','','Define a list of subfields to use when prefilling items (separated by space)','Free'),
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/cataloguing.pref b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/cataloguing.pref
index 509153df23..611edf03f4 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/cataloguing.pref
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/cataloguing.pref
@@ -205,6 +205,12 @@ Cataloging:
             - pref: ContentWarningField
             - for storing content warnings.
             - "<br/><strong>NOTE:</strong> The field needs to appear in the MARC frameworks to be accessible."
+        -
+            - pref: StripWhitespaceChars
+              choices:
+                  1: Strip
+                  0: "Don't strip"
+            - leading and trailing whitespace characters (including spaces, tabs, line breaks and carriage returns) and inner newlines from data fields when cataloguing bibliographic and authority records. The leader and control fields will not be affected.
     Display:
         -
             - 'Separate main entry and subdivisions with '
diff --git a/t/Koha_MetadataRecord.t b/t/Koha_MetadataRecord.t
index 0bcc4690dc..7202f4a86f 100755
--- a/t/Koha_MetadataRecord.t
+++ b/t/Koha_MetadataRecord.t
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
 use Modern::Perl;
 
-use Test::More tests => 5;
+use Test::More tests => 6;
 use Test::Warn;
 
 use MARC::Record;
@@ -143,3 +143,24 @@ subtest "new() tests" => sub {
     is( $metadata_record, undef, 'record object mandatory')
 };
 
+subtest "stripWhitespaceChars() tests" => sub {
+    plan tests => 2;
+
+    # Test default values with a MARC::Record record
+    my $record = MARC::Record->new();
+
+    $record->add_fields(
+        [ '001', '1234' ],
+        [ '150', ' ', ' ', a => 'Test' ],
+        [ '520', ' ', ' ', a => "This is\na test!\t" ],
+        [ '521', ' ', ' ', a => "This is a\t test!\t" ],
+    );
+
+    $record = Koha::MetadataRecord::stripWhitespaceChars( $record );
+
+    my $get520a = $record->subfield('520','a');
+    is( $get520a, "This is a test!", "Whitespace characters are appropriately stripped or replaced with spaces" );
+
+    my $get521a = $record->subfield('521','a');
+    is( $get521a, "This is a\t test!", "Trailing tabs are stripped while inner tabs are kept" );
+};
diff --git a/t/db_dependent/Biblio/ModBiblioMarc.t b/t/db_dependent/Biblio/ModBiblioMarc.t
index ac56746d2d..fc38684c39 100755
--- a/t/db_dependent/Biblio/ModBiblioMarc.t
+++ b/t/db_dependent/Biblio/ModBiblioMarc.t
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 use Modern::Perl;
 
-use Test::More tests => 1;
+use Test::More tests => 2;
 use t::lib::Mocks;
 use t::lib::TestBuilder;
 use MARC::Record;
@@ -47,4 +47,38 @@ subtest "Check MARC field length calculation" => sub {
     like( substr($savedrec->leader,12,5), qr/^\d{5}$/, 'Base address found' );
 };
 
+subtest "StripWhitespaceChars tests" => sub {
+    plan tests => 4;
+
+    t::lib::Mocks::mock_preference('marcflavour', 'MARC21');
+    t::lib::Mocks::mock_preference('StripWhitespaceChars', 0);
+
+    my $biblio = t::lib::TestBuilder->new->build_sample_biblio;
+    my $record = MARC::Record->new;
+    $record->append_fields(
+        MARC::Field->new( '003', "abcdefg\n" ),
+        MARC::Field->new( '245', '', '', a => "  My\ntitle\n" ),
+    );
+
+    my $title = $record->title;
+    is( $title, "  My\ntitle\n", 'Title has whitespace characters' );
+
+    C4::Biblio::ModBiblioMarc( $record, $biblio->biblionumber );
+    $biblio = Koha::Biblios->find( $biblio->biblionumber );
+    my $savedrec = $biblio->metadata->record;
+    my $savedtitle = $savedrec->title;
+    is( $savedtitle, "  My\ntitle\n", "Title still has whitespace characters because StripWhitespaceChars is disabled" );
+
+    t::lib::Mocks::mock_preference('StripWhitespaceChars', 1);
+
+    C4::Biblio::ModBiblioMarc( $record, $biblio->biblionumber );
+    $biblio = Koha::Biblios->find( $biblio->biblionumber );
+    my $amendedrec = $biblio->metadata->record;
+    my $amendedtitle = $amendedrec->title;
+    is( $amendedtitle, "My title", "Whitespace characters removed from title because StripWhitespaceChars is enabled" );
+
+    my $f003 = $record->field('003')->data;
+    is( $f003, "abcdefg\n", "Whitespace characters are not stripped from control fields" );
+};
+
 $schema->storage->txn_rollback;