diff --git a/include/mapnik/util/trim.hpp b/include/mapnik/util/trim.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..938956fca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/mapnik/util/trim.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+/*****************************************************************************
+ *
+ * This file is part of Mapnik (c++ mapping toolkit)
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Artem Pavlenko
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ *
+ *****************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef MAPNIK_TRIM_HPP
+#define MAPNIK_TRIM_HPP
+
+// boost
+//#include <boost/algorithm/string/trim.hpp>
+
+// stl
+#include <string>
+#include <iostream>
+
+namespace mapnik { namespace util {
+
+/*
+   faster trim (than boost::trim)
+   that intentionally does not respect
+   std::locale to avoid overhead in cases
+   where the locale is not critical
+*/
+
+static inline bool not_whitespace(int ch)
+{
+    if (ch == ' ' || ch == '\n' || ch == '\r' || ch == '\t') return false;
+    return true;
+}
+
+// trim from start
+static inline std::string & ltrim(std::string & s)
+{
+    s.erase(s.begin(), std::find_if(s.begin(), s.end(), not_whitespace));
+    return s;
+}
+
+// trim from end
+static inline std::string & rtrim(std::string & s)
+{
+    s.erase(std::find_if(s.rbegin(), s.rend(), not_whitespace).base(), s.end());
+    return s;
+}
+
+// trim from both ends
+static inline void trim(std::string & s)
+{
+    ltrim(rtrim(s));
+}
+
+static inline std::string trim_copy(std::string s)
+{
+    return ltrim(rtrim(s));
+}
+
+
+}} // end of namespace mapnik
+
+#endif // MAPNIK_TRIM_HPP
diff --git a/plugins/input/csv/csv_datasource.cpp b/plugins/input/csv/csv_datasource.cpp
index 2723488de..042c19448 100644
--- a/plugins/input/csv/csv_datasource.cpp
+++ b/plugins/input/csv/csv_datasource.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include <mapnik/util/geometry_to_ds_type.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/util/conversions.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/boolean.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 
 // stl
 #include <sstream>
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ csv_datasource::csv_datasource(parameters const& params, bool bind)
       separator_(*params_.get<std::string>("separator", "")),
       quote_(*params_.get<std::string>("quote", "")),
       headers_(),
-      manual_headers_(boost::trim_copy(*params_.get<std::string>("headers", ""))),
+      manual_headers_(mapnik::util::trim_copy(*params_.get<std::string>("headers", ""))),
       strict_(*params_.get<mapnik::boolean>("strict", false)),
       quiet_(*params_.get<mapnik::boolean>("quiet", false)),
       filesize_max_(*params_.get<float>("filesize_max", 20.0)),  // MB
@@ -196,7 +197,7 @@ void csv_datasource::parse_csv(T & stream,
 
     // if user has not passed a separator manually
     // then attempt to detect by reading first line
-    std::string sep = boost::trim_copy(separator);
+    std::string sep = mapnik::util::trim_copy(separator);
     if (sep.empty())
     {
         // default to ','
@@ -240,10 +241,10 @@ void csv_datasource::parse_csv(T & stream,
 
     typedef boost::escaped_list_separator<char> escape_type;
 
-    std::string esc = boost::trim_copy(escape);
+    std::string esc = mapnik::util::trim_copy(escape);
     if (esc.empty()) esc = "\\";
 
-    std::string quo = boost::trim_copy(quote);
+    std::string quo = mapnik::util::trim_copy(quote);
     if (quo.empty()) quo = "\"";
 
     MAPNIK_LOG_DEBUG(csv) << "csv_datasource: csv grammar: sep: '" << sep
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@ void csv_datasource::parse_csv(T & stream,
         unsigned idx(0);
         for (; beg != tok.end(); ++beg)
         {
-            std::string val = boost::trim_copy(*beg);
+            std::string val = mapnik::util::trim_copy(*beg);
             std::string lower_val = boost::algorithm::to_lower_copy(val);
             if (lower_val == "wkt"
                 || (lower_val.find("geom") != std::string::npos))
@@ -324,7 +325,7 @@ void csv_datasource::parse_csv(T & stream,
                 Tokenizer::iterator beg = tok.begin();
                 std::string val;
                 if (beg != tok.end())
-                    val = boost::trim_copy(*beg);
+                    val = mapnik::util::trim_copy(*beg);
 
                 // skip blank lines
                 if (val.empty())
@@ -338,7 +339,7 @@ void csv_datasource::parse_csv(T & stream,
                     for (; beg != tok.end(); ++beg)
                     {
                         ++idx;
-                        val = boost::trim_copy(*beg);
+                        val = mapnik::util::trim_copy(*beg);
                         if (val.empty())
                         {
                             if (strict_)
@@ -522,7 +523,7 @@ void csv_datasource::parse_csv(T & stream,
                 }
                 else
                 {
-                    value = boost::trim_copy(*beg);
+                    value = mapnik::util::trim_copy(*beg);
                     ++beg;
                 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/input/postgis/postgis_featureset.cpp b/plugins/input/postgis/postgis_featureset.cpp
index 44e62a0b8..25d516bc8 100644
--- a/plugins/input/postgis/postgis_featureset.cpp
+++ b/plugins/input/postgis/postgis_featureset.cpp
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@
 #include <mapnik/sql_utils.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/feature_factory.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/util/conversions.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 
 // boost
-#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
 #include <boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp>
 
 // stl
@@ -182,8 +182,7 @@ feature_ptr postgis_featureset::next()
 
                     case 1042: //bpchar
                     {
-                        std::string str(buf);
-                        boost::trim(str);
+                        std::string str = mapnik::util::trim_copy(buf);
                         feature->put(name, tr_->transcode(str.c_str()));
                         break;
                     }
diff --git a/src/box2d.cpp b/src/box2d.cpp
index 384809cc2..7a64a10e5 100644
--- a/src/box2d.cpp
+++ b/src/box2d.cpp
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@
 
 // mapnik
 #include <mapnik/box2d.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 
 // stl
 #include <stdexcept>
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/tokenizer.hpp>
-#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
 #include <boost/spirit/include/qi.hpp>
 
 // agg
@@ -359,14 +359,17 @@ bool box2d<T>::from_string(std::string const& s)
     for (boost::tokenizer<boost::char_separator<char> >::iterator beg = tok.begin();
          beg != tok.end(); ++beg)
     {
-        std::string item(*beg);
-        boost::trim(item);
+        std::string item = mapnik::util::trim_copy(*beg);
         // note: we intentionally do not use mapnik::util::conversions::string2double
         // here to ensure that shapeindex can statically compile mapnik::box2d without
         // needing to link to libmapnik
         std::string::const_iterator str_beg = item.begin();
         std::string::const_iterator str_end = item.end();
-        bool r = boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(str_beg,str_end,boost::spirit::qi::double_,boost::spirit::ascii::space,d[i]);
+        bool r = boost::spirit::qi::phrase_parse(str_beg,
+                                                 str_end,
+                                                 boost::spirit::qi::double_,
+                                                 boost::spirit::ascii::space,
+                                                 d[i]);
         if (!(r && (str_beg == str_end)))
         {
             break;
diff --git a/src/libxml2_loader.cpp b/src/libxml2_loader.cpp
index e0f034a98..90f6e5cc3 100644
--- a/src/libxml2_loader.cpp
+++ b/src/libxml2_loader.cpp
@@ -23,15 +23,14 @@
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBXML2
 
 // mapnik
-#include <mapnik/debug.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/xml_loader.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/xml_node.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/config_error.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/utility.hpp>
 #include <boost/filesystem/operations.hpp>
-#include <boost/algorithm/string/trim.hpp>
 
 // libxml
 #include <libxml/parser.h>
@@ -39,8 +38,6 @@
 #include <libxml/parserInternals.h>
 #include <libxml/xinclude.h>
 
-using namespace std;
-
 #define DEFAULT_OPTIONS (XML_PARSE_NOERROR | XML_PARSE_NOENT | XML_PARSE_NOBLANKS | XML_PARSE_DTDLOAD | XML_PARSE_NOCDATA)
 
 namespace mapnik
@@ -75,7 +72,7 @@ public:
         boost::filesystem::path path(filename);
         if (!boost::filesystem::exists(path))
         {
-            throw config_error(string("Could not load map file: File does not exist"), 0, filename);
+            throw config_error(std::string("Could not load map file: File does not exist"), 0, filename);
         }
 
         xmlDocPtr doc = xmlCtxtReadFile(ctx_, filename.c_str(), encoding_, options_);
@@ -92,13 +89,6 @@ public:
                 throw config_error(msg, error->line, error->file);
             }
         }
-
-        /*
-          if ( ! ctx->valid )
-          {
-            MAPNIK_LOG_WARN(libxml2_loader) << "libxml2_loader: Failed to validate DTD.";
-          }
-        */
         load(doc, node);
     }
 
@@ -114,7 +104,7 @@ public:
         {
             boost::filesystem::path path(base_path);
             if (!boost::filesystem::exists(path)) {
-                throw config_error(string("Could not locate base_path '") +
+                throw config_error(std::string("Could not locate base_path '") +
                                    base_path + "': file or directory does not exist");
             }
         }
@@ -186,7 +176,7 @@ private:
             case XML_TEXT_NODE:
             {
                 std::string trimmed((const char*)cur_node->content);
-                boost::algorithm::trim(trimmed);
+                mapnik::util::trim(trimmed);
                 if (trimmed.empty()) break; //Don't add empty text nodes
                 node.add_child(trimmed, cur_node->line, true);
             }
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index 89aa84d39..4d4e1b978 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@
 #include <mapnik/config_error.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/util/dasharray_parser.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/util/conversions.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/marker_cache.hpp>
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/optional.hpp>
 #include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
-#include <boost/algorithm/string/trim.hpp>
 #include <boost/tokenizer.hpp>
 #include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
 #include <boost/property_tree/xml_parser.hpp>
@@ -255,8 +255,7 @@ void map_parser::parse_map(Map & map, xml_node const& pt, std::string const& bas
                 for (boost::tokenizer<boost::char_separator<char> >::iterator beg = tokens.begin();
                      beg != tokens.end(); ++beg)
                 {
-                    std::string item(*beg);
-                    boost::trim(item);
+                    std::string item = mapnik::util::trim_copy(*beg);
                     if (!mapnik::util::string2int(item,n[i]))
                     {
                         throw config_error(std::string("Invalid version string encountered: '")
diff --git a/src/projection.cpp b/src/projection.cpp
index 1776a22db..900b5addd 100644
--- a/src/projection.cpp
+++ b/src/projection.cpp
@@ -23,9 +23,7 @@
 // mapnik
 #include <mapnik/projection.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/utils.hpp>
-
-// boost
-#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 
 // proj4
 #include <proj_api.h>
@@ -151,10 +149,7 @@ void projection::init()
 std::string projection::expanded() const
 {
     if (proj_) {
-        std::string def(pj_get_def( proj_, 0 ));
-        //boost::algorithm::ireplace_first(def,params_,"");
-        boost::trim(def);
-        return def;
+        return mapnik::util::trim_copy(pj_get_def( proj_, 0 ));
     }
     return std::string("");
 }
diff --git a/src/rapidxml_loader.cpp b/src/rapidxml_loader.cpp
index 6a32e318f..4c0898bee 100644
--- a/src/rapidxml_loader.cpp
+++ b/src/rapidxml_loader.cpp
@@ -31,16 +31,15 @@
 #include <boost/property_tree/detail/xml_parser_read_rapidxml.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/xml_node.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/config_error.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/util/trim.hpp>
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/utility.hpp>
-#include <boost/algorithm/string/trim.hpp>
 
 // stl
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
 
-using namespace std;
 namespace rapidxml = boost::property_tree::detail::rapidxml;
 namespace mapnik
 {
@@ -108,7 +107,7 @@ public:
 //        {
 //            boost::filesystem::path path(base_path);
 //            if (!boost::filesystem::exists(path)) {
-//                throw config_error(string("Could not locate base_path '") +
+//                throw config_error(std::string("Could not locate base_path '") +
 //                                   base_path + "': file or directory does not exist");
 //            }
 //        }
@@ -145,7 +144,7 @@ private:
         case rapidxml::node_cdata:
         {
             std::string trimmed(cur_node->value());
-            boost::trim(trimmed);
+            mapnik::util::trim(trimmed);
             if (trimmed.empty()) break; //Don't add empty text nodes
             node.add_child(trimmed, 0, true);
         }
diff --git a/tests/data/broken_maps/in_valid_whitespace.xml b/tests/data/broken_maps/in_valid_whitespace.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ce5452b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/broken_maps/in_valid_whitespace.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<Map>
+<!-- backspace-->
+
+</Map>
\ No newline at end of file