diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcher.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcher.java
index bbceda14dc..0ae86e0879 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcher.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcher.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -60,12 +60,18 @@ public class AntPathMatcher implements PathMatcher {
 	private final Map<String, AntPathStringMatcher> stringMatcherCache =
 			new ConcurrentHashMap<String, AntPathStringMatcher>(256);
 
+	private boolean trimTokens = true;
+
 
 	/** Set the path separator to use for pattern parsing. Default is "/", as in Ant. */
 	public void setPathSeparator(String pathSeparator) {
 		this.pathSeparator = (pathSeparator != null ? pathSeparator : DEFAULT_PATH_SEPARATOR);
 	}
 
+	/** Whether to trim tokenized paths and patterns. */
+	public void setTrimTokens(boolean trimTokens) {
+		this.trimTokens  = trimTokens;
+	}
 
 	public boolean isPattern(String path) {
 		return (path.indexOf('*') != -1 || path.indexOf('?') != -1);
@@ -95,8 +101,8 @@ public class AntPathMatcher implements PathMatcher {
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		String[] pattDirs = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(pattern, this.pathSeparator);
-		String[] pathDirs = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(path, this.pathSeparator);
+		String[] pattDirs = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(pattern, this.pathSeparator, this.trimTokens, true);
+		String[] pathDirs = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(path, this.pathSeparator, this.trimTokens, true);
 
 		int pattIdxStart = 0;
 		int pattIdxEnd = pattDirs.length - 1;
@@ -246,8 +252,8 @@ public class AntPathMatcher implements PathMatcher {
 	 * does <strong>not</strong> enforce this.
 	 */
 	public String extractPathWithinPattern(String pattern, String path) {
-		String[] patternParts = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(pattern, this.pathSeparator);
-		String[] pathParts = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(path, this.pathSeparator);
+		String[] patternParts = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(pattern, this.pathSeparator, this.trimTokens, true);
+		String[] pathParts = StringUtils.tokenizeToStringArray(path, this.pathSeparator, this.trimTokens, true);
 
 		StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
 
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcherTests.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcherTests.java
index e960a62ea6..0a34e1c470 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcherTests.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/util/AntPathMatcherTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -542,6 +542,14 @@ public class AntPathMatcherTests {
 		paths.clear();
 	}
 
+	// SPR-8687
 
+	@Test
+	public void trimTokensOff() {
+		pathMatcher.setTrimTokens(false);
+
+		assertTrue(pathMatcher.match("/group/{groupName}/members", "/group/sales/members"));
+		assertTrue(pathMatcher.match("/group/{groupName}/members", "/group/  sales/members"));
+	}
 
 }