diff --git a/github_flavoured.c b/github_flavoured.c
index 12ed609..0600194 100644
--- a/github_flavoured.c
+++ b/github_flavoured.c
@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@ gfm_populate(getc_func getc, void* ctx, int flags)
 	 */
 	Line *headers = T(a->content);
 
-	a->title = headers;             __mkd_header_dle(a->title);
-	a->author= headers->next;       __mkd_header_dle(a->author);
-	a->date  = headers->next->next; __mkd_header_dle(a->date);
+	a->title = headers;             __mkd_trim_line(a->title, 1);
+	a->author= headers->next;       __mkd_trim_line(a->author, 1);
+	a->date  = headers->next->next; __mkd_trim_line(a->date, 1);
 
 	T(a->content) = headers->next->next->next;
     }
diff --git a/markdown.c b/markdown.c
index 513b4bb..44dffe5 100644
--- a/markdown.c
+++ b/markdown.c
@@ -608,8 +608,7 @@ codeblock(Paragraph *p)
     Line *t = p->text, *r;
 
     for ( ; t; t = r ) {
-	CLIP(t->text,0,4);
-	t->dle = mkd_firstnonblank(t);
+	__mkd_trim_line(t,4);
 
 	if ( !( (r = skipempty(t->next)) && iscode(r)) ) {
 	    ___mkd_freeLineRange(t,r);
@@ -804,9 +803,8 @@ quoteblock(Paragraph *p, DWORD flags)
 	    /* clip next space, if any */
 	    if ( T(t->text)[qp] == ' ' )
 		qp++;
-	    CLIP(t->text, 0, qp);
+	    __mkd_trim_line(t,qp);
 	    UNCHECK(t);
-	    t->dle = mkd_firstnonblank(t);
 	}
 
 	q = skipempty(t->next);
@@ -855,9 +853,8 @@ listitem(Paragraph *p, int indent, DWORD flags, linefn check)
     int z;
 
     for ( t = p->text; t ; t = q) {
-	CLIP(t->text, 0, clip);
 	UNCHECK(t);
-	t->dle = mkd_firstnonblank(t);
+	__mkd_trim_line(t, clip);
 
         /* even though we had to trim a long leader off this item,
          * the indent for trailing paragraphs is still 4...
@@ -1021,10 +1018,7 @@ extrablock(Line *p)
 	    p->next = 0;
 	    return np;
 	}
-	if ( np->dle >= 4 ) {
-	    CLIP(np->text, 0, 4);
-	    np->dle -= 4;
-	}
+	__mkd_trim_line(np,4);
 	p = np;
     }
     return 0;
@@ -1064,8 +1058,7 @@ addfootnote(Line *p, MMIOT* f)
 	 * snip that out as we go.
 	 */
 	foot->flags |= EXTRA_FOOTNOTE;
-	CLIP(p->text, 0, j);
-	p->dle = mkd_firstnonblank(p);
+	__mkd_trim_line(p,j);
 
 	np = extrablock(p);
 
diff --git a/markdown.h b/markdown.h
index 370e12d..66c527a 100644
--- a/markdown.h
+++ b/markdown.h
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ extern void ___mkd_tidy(Cstring *);
 
 extern Document *__mkd_new_Document();
 extern void __mkd_enqueue(Document*, Cstring *);
-extern void __mkd_header_dle(Line *);
+extern void __mkd_trim_line(Line *, int);
 
 extern int  __mkd_io_strget(struct string_stream *);
 
diff --git a/mkdio.c b/mkdio.c
index 79581d1..cc9c269 100644
--- a/mkdio.c
+++ b/mkdio.c
@@ -74,13 +74,17 @@ __mkd_enqueue(Document* a, Cstring *line)
 }
 
 
-/* trim leading blanks from a header line
+/* trim leading characters from a line, then adjust the dle.
  */
 void
-__mkd_header_dle(Line *p)
+__mkd_trim_line(Line *p, int clip)
 {
-    CLIP(p->text, 0, 1);
-    p->dle = mkd_firstnonblank(p);
+    if ( clip > S(p->text) )
+	clip = S(p->text);
+    if ( clip ) {
+	CLIP(p->text, 0, clip);
+	p->dle = mkd_firstnonblank(p);
+    }
 }
 
 
@@ -129,9 +133,9 @@ populate(getc_func getc, void* ctx, int flags)
 	 */
 	Line *headers = T(a->content);
 
-	a->title = headers;             __mkd_header_dle(a->title);
-	a->author= headers->next;       __mkd_header_dle(a->author);
-	a->date  = headers->next->next; __mkd_header_dle(a->date);
+	a->title = headers;             __mkd_trim_line(a->title, 1);
+	a->author= headers->next;       __mkd_trim_line(a->author, 1);
+	a->date  = headers->next->next; __mkd_trim_line(a->date, 1);
 
 	T(a->content) = headers->next->next->next;
     }