diff --git a/phpBB/includes/message_parser.php b/phpBB/includes/message_parser.php
index 91c50cfe5a..6c8984fa82 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/message_parser.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/message_parser.php
@@ -1154,7 +1154,7 @@ class parse_message extends bbcode_firstpass
 		}
 
 		// Store message length...
-		$message_length = ($mode == 'post') ? utf8_strlen($this->message) : utf8_strlen(preg_replace('#\[\/?[a-z\*\+\-]+(=[\S]+)?\]#ius', ' ', $this->message));
+		$message_length = ($mode == 'post') ? utf8_strlen($this->message) : utf8_strlen(preg_replace('#\[\/?[a-z\*\+\-]+(?:=\S+?)?\]#ius', '', $this->message));
 
 		// Maximum message length check. 0 disables this check completely.
 		if ((int) $config['max_' . $mode . '_chars'] > 0 && $message_length > (int) $config['max_' . $mode . '_chars'])