diff --git a/.changeset/move-word-collapse.md b/.changeset/move-word-collapse.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..02fa14ce2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/move-word-collapse.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'slate-react': patch
+---
+
+Collapse expanded selection before handling `moveWordBackward` (`alt + left`) and `moveWordForward` (`alt + right`) hotkeys.
diff --git a/packages/slate-react/src/components/editable.tsx b/packages/slate-react/src/components/editable.tsx
index 57b72dd72..75d129a6c 100644
--- a/packages/slate-react/src/components/editable.tsx
+++ b/packages/slate-react/src/components/editable.tsx
@@ -915,12 +915,22 @@ export const Editable = (props: EditableProps) => {
 
                 if (Hotkeys.isMoveWordBackward(nativeEvent)) {
                   event.preventDefault()
+
+                  if (selection && Range.isExpanded(selection)) {
+                    Transforms.collapse(editor, { edge: 'focus' })
+                  }
+
                   Transforms.move(editor, { unit: 'word', reverse: !isRTL })
                   return
                 }
 
                 if (Hotkeys.isMoveWordForward(nativeEvent)) {
                   event.preventDefault()
+
+                  if (selection && Range.isExpanded(selection)) {
+                    Transforms.collapse(editor, { edge: 'focus' })
+                  }
+
                   Transforms.move(editor, { unit: 'word', reverse: isRTL })
                   return
                 }