diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 47d44d4..c34d449 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -245,6 +245,11 @@
                         "verbose"
                     ],
                     "description": "Specifies how much (if any) output will be sent to the GitLens output channel"
+                },
+                "gitlens.advanced.toggleWhitespace.enabled": {
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "default": false,
+                    "description": "Specifies whether or not to toggle whitespace off then showing blame annotations (*may* be required by certain fonts/themes)"
                 }
             }
         },
diff --git a/src/blameAnnotationController.ts b/src/blameAnnotationController.ts
index 318cbb6..35fca8e 100644
--- a/src/blameAnnotationController.ts
+++ b/src/blameAnnotationController.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { Functions } from './system';
 import { Disposable, ExtensionContext, TextDocument, TextEditor, TextEditorViewColumnChangeEvent, window, workspace } from 'vscode';
 import { BlameAnnotationProvider } from './blameAnnotationProvider';
 import { TextDocumentComparer, TextEditorComparer } from './comparers';
+// import { IAdvancedConfig } from './configuration';
 import GitProvider from './gitProvider';
 import { Logger } from './logger';
 import WhitespaceController from './whitespaceController';
@@ -11,12 +12,19 @@ export default class BlameAnnotationController extends Disposable {
 
     private _annotationProviders: Map<number, BlameAnnotationProvider> = new Map();
     private _blameAnnotationsDisposable: Disposable;
+    private _disposable: Disposable;
     private _whitespaceController: WhitespaceController | undefined;
 
     constructor(private context: ExtensionContext, private git: GitProvider) {
         super(() => this.dispose());
 
-        this._whitespaceController = new WhitespaceController(context);
+        this._onConfigure();
+
+        const subscriptions: Disposable[] = [];
+
+        subscriptions.push(workspace.onDidChangeConfiguration(this._onConfigure, this));
+
+        this._disposable = Disposable.from(...subscriptions);
     }
 
     dispose() {
@@ -24,6 +32,17 @@ export default class BlameAnnotationController extends Disposable {
 
         this._blameAnnotationsDisposable && this._blameAnnotationsDisposable.dispose();
         this._whitespaceController && this._whitespaceController.dispose();
+        this._disposable && this._disposable.dispose();
+    }
+
+    private _onConfigure() {
+        const toggleWhitespace = workspace.getConfiguration('gitlens.advanced.toggleWhitespace').get<boolean>('enabled');
+        if (toggleWhitespace && !this._whitespaceController) {
+            this._whitespaceController = new WhitespaceController();
+        }
+        else if (!toggleWhitespace && this._whitespaceController) {
+            this._whitespaceController.dispose();
+        }
     }
 
     async clear(column: number) {
diff --git a/src/configuration.ts b/src/configuration.ts
index 8e2a60c..4430fbb 100644
--- a/src/configuration.ts
+++ b/src/configuration.ts
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@ export interface IAdvancedConfig {
     output: {
         level: OutputLevel;
     };
+    toggleWhitespace: {
+        enabled: boolean;
+    };
 }
 
 export interface IConfig {
diff --git a/src/whitespaceController.ts b/src/whitespaceController.ts
index 2a9a3a2..4625af8 100644
--- a/src/whitespaceController.ts
+++ b/src/whitespaceController.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 'use strict';
-import { Disposable, ExtensionContext, workspace } from 'vscode';
+import { Disposable, workspace } from 'vscode';
 import { Logger } from './logger';
 
 enum SettingLocation {
@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@ export default class WhitespaceController extends Disposable {
 
     private _count: number = 0;
     private _disposable: Disposable;
+    private _disposed: boolean = false;
     private _ignoreNextConfigChange: boolean = false;
     private _renderWhitespace: string;
     private _renderWhitespaceLocation: SettingLocation = SettingLocation.default;
     private _requiresOverride: boolean;
 
-    constructor(context: ExtensionContext) {
+    constructor() {
         super(() => this.dispose());
 
         const subscriptions: Disposable[] = [];
@@ -30,12 +31,16 @@ export default class WhitespaceController extends Disposable {
     }
 
     dispose() {
+        this._disposed = true;
         if (this._count !== 0) {
             this._restoreWhitespace();
+            this._count = 0;
         }
     }
 
     private _onConfigurationChanged() {
+        if (this._disposed) return;
+
         if (this._ignoreNextConfigChange) {
             this._ignoreNextConfigChange = false;
             Logger.log(`Whitespace changed; ignored`);
@@ -70,6 +75,8 @@ export default class WhitespaceController extends Disposable {
     }
 
     override() {
+        if (this._disposed) return;
+
         Logger.log(`Request whitespace override; count=${this._count}`);
         if (this._count === 0 && this._requiresOverride) {
             this._ignoreNextConfigChange = true;
@@ -86,6 +93,8 @@ export default class WhitespaceController extends Disposable {
     }
 
     restore() {
+        if (this._disposed) return;
+
         Logger.log(`Request whitespace restore; count=${this._count}`);
         this._count--;
         if (this._count === 0 && this._requiresOverride) {