diff --git a/include/settings.hpp.cmake b/include/settings.hpp.cmake
index 2aece68d..62dd905e 100644
--- a/include/settings.hpp.cmake
+++ b/include/settings.hpp.cmake
@@ -72,8 +72,6 @@ static constexpr const char* PATH_MEMORY_INFO{"@SETTING_PATH_MEMORY_INFO@"};
 static constexpr const char* PATH_MESSAGING_FIFO{"@SETTING_PATH_MESSAGING_FIFO@"};
 static constexpr const char* PATH_TEMPERATURE_INFO{"@SETTING_PATH_TEMPERATURE_INFO@"};
 
-static constexpr const char* BUILDER_SPACE_TOKEN{"%__"};
-
 const auto version_details = [](const std::vector<std::string>& args) {
   for (auto&& arg : args) {
     if (arg.compare(0, 3, "-vv") == 0)
diff --git a/src/components/builder.cpp b/src/components/builder.cpp
index bdb3f042..e30e024f 100644
--- a/src/components/builder.cpp
+++ b/src/components/builder.cpp
@@ -8,10 +8,6 @@
 #include "utils/time.hpp"
 POLYBAR_NS
 
-#ifndef BUILDER_SPACE_TOKEN
-#define BUILDER_SPACE_TOKEN "%__"
-#endif
-
 builder::builder(const bar_settings& bar) : m_bar(bar) {
   m_tags[syntaxtag::A] = 0;
   m_tags[syntaxtag::B] = 0;
@@ -66,7 +62,7 @@ string builder::flush() {
   m_output.clear();
   m_fontindex = 1;
 
-  return string_util::replace_all(output, BUILDER_SPACE_TOKEN, " ");
+  return output;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/modules/text.cpp b/src/modules/text.cpp
index c2da53c4..fde8fb85 100644
--- a/src/modules/text.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/text.cpp
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@ namespace modules {
     if (m_formatter->get("content")->value.empty()) {
       throw module_error(name() + ".content is empty or undefined");
     }
-
-    m_formatter->get("content")->value =
-        string_util::replace_all(m_formatter->get("content")->value, " ", BUILDER_SPACE_TOKEN);
   }
 
   string text_module::get_format() const {