diff --git a/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php b/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php
index fe342bcc..d230cdf9 100644
--- a/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php
+++ b/src/PhpWord/TemplateProcessor.php
@@ -612,8 +612,7 @@ class TemplateProcessor
                 // If tmpXmlRow doesn't contain continue, this row is no longer part of the spanned row.
                 $tmpXmlRow = $this->getSlice($extraRowStart, $extraRowEnd);
                 if (!preg_match('#<w:vMerge/>#', $tmpXmlRow) &&
-                    !preg_match('#<w:vMerge w:val="continue" />#', $tmpXmlRow) &&
-                    !preg_match('#<w:vMerge w:val="continue"/>#', $tmpXmlRow)) {
+                    !preg_match('#<w:vMerge w:val="continue"\s*/>#', $tmpXmlRow)) {
                     break;
                 }
                 // This row was a spanned row, update $rowEnd and search for the next row.