diff --git a/src/MagicString.js b/src/MagicString.js
index c9913b9..7bc5b7d 100644
--- a/src/MagicString.js
+++ b/src/MagicString.js
@@ -181,11 +181,11 @@ MagicString.prototype = {
 	},
 
 	// get current location of character in original string
-	locate () {
+	locate ( character ) {
 		throw new Error( 'magicString.locate is deprecated' );
 	},
 
-	locateOrigin () {
+	locateOrigin ( character ) {
 		throw new Error( 'magicString.locateOrigin is deprecated' );
 	},
 
@@ -290,6 +290,8 @@ MagicString.prototype = {
 
 		let result = '';
 
+		// TODO handle moves
+
 		for ( let i = 0; i < this.chunks.length; i += 1 ) {
 			const chunk = this.chunks[i];
 
@@ -352,18 +354,36 @@ MagicString.prototype = {
 		this.outro = this.outro.replace( rx, '' );
 		if ( this.outro.length ) return this;
 
-		do {
-			let lastChunk = this.chunks[ this.chunks.length - 1 ];
-			if ( rx.test( lastChunk.content ) ) {
-				lastChunk.edit( lastChunk.content.replace( rx, '' ) );
-			}
+		let charIndex = this.original.length;
+		let i = this.chunks.length;
 
-			if ( lastChunk.content.length || this.chunks.length === 1 ) {
-				break;
-			} else {
-				this.chunks.pop();
+		while ( i-- ) {
+			const chunk = this.chunks[i];
+
+			if ( charIndex > chunk.end ) {
+				const slice = this.original.slice( chunk.end, charIndex );
+
+				const match = rx.exec( slice );
+				if ( match ) {
+					this.chunk( charIndex - match[0].length, charIndex, '' );
+				}
+
+				if ( !match || match[0].length < slice.length ) {
+					// there is non-whitespace after the chunk
+					return this;
+				}
 			}
-		} while ( true );
+
+			chunk.content = chunk.content.replace( rx, '' );
+			if ( chunk.content ) return this;
+
+			charIndex = chunk.start;
+		}
+
+		const slice = this.original.slice( 0, charIndex );
+
+		const match = rx.exec( slice );
+		if ( match ) this.chunk( charIndex - match[0].length, charIndex, '' );
 
 		return this;
 	},
@@ -374,19 +394,34 @@ MagicString.prototype = {
 		this.intro = this.intro.replace( rx, '' );
 		if ( this.intro.length ) return this;
 
-		do {
-			let firstChunk = this.chunks[0];
-			if ( rx.test( firstChunk.content ) ) {
-				firstChunk.edit( firstChunk.content.replace( rx, '' ) );
-			}
+		let charIndex = 0;
 
-			if ( firstChunk.content.length || this.chunks.length === 1 ) {
-				break;
-			} else {
-				this.chunks.shift();
+		for ( let i = 0; i < this.chunks.length; i += 1 ) {
+			const chunk = this.chunks[i];
+
+			if ( charIndex < chunk.start ) {
+				const slice = this.original.slice( charIndex, chunk.start );
+
+				const match = rx.exec( slice );
+				if ( match ) this.chunk( charIndex, charIndex + match[0].length, '' );
+
+				if ( !match || match[0].length < slice.length ) {
+					// there is non-whitespace before the chunk
+					return this;
+				}
 			}
-		} while ( true );
+
+			chunk.content = chunk.content.replace( rx, '' );
+			if ( chunk.content ) return this;
+
+			charIndex = chunk.end;
+		}
+
+		const slice = this.original.slice( charIndex, this.original.length );
+
+		const match = rx.exec( slice );
+		if ( match ) this.chunk( charIndex, charIndex + match[0].length, '' );
 
 		return this;
 	}
-};
+}