diff --git a/spec/support/matchers/table_matchers.rb b/spec/support/matchers/table_matchers.rb
index 0a4c3b1e09..448b9a89a3 100644
--- a/spec/support/matchers/table_matchers.rb
+++ b/spec/support/matchers/table_matchers.rb
@@ -3,14 +3,18 @@ RSpec::Matchers.define :have_table_row do |row|
   match do |node|
     @row = row
 
-    node.has_selector? "tr", text: row.join(" ").strip # Check for appearance
+    text_without_blanks = row.select(&:present?).join(" ").strip
+    return false unless node.has_selector? "tr", text: text_without_blanks # Check for appearance
+
     rows_under(node).include? row # Robust check of columns
   end
 
   match_when_negated do |node|
     @row = row
 
-    node.has_no_selector? "tr", text: row.join(" ").strip # Check for appearance
+    text_without_blanks = row.select(&:present?).join(" ").strip
+    return false unless node.has_no_selector? "tr", text: text_without_blanks # Check for appearance
+
     !rows_under(node).include? row # Robust check of columns
   end