diff --git a/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/kernels/wrapperkernel/usercodeparser.py b/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/kernels/wrapperkernel/usercodeparser.py
index 47efbd99..7b7c1069 100644
--- a/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/kernels/wrapperkernel/usercodeparser.py
+++ b/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/kernels/wrapperkernel/usercodeparser.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ class UserCodeParser(object):
     ]
 
     def get_code_to_run(self, code):
+        code = code.lstrip()
         try:
             all_but_first_line = code.split(None, 1)[1]
         except IndexError:
diff --git a/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/tests/test_usercodeparser.py b/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/tests/test_usercodeparser.py
index f140ef39..52a3ebc0 100644
--- a/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/tests/test_usercodeparser.py
+++ b/sparkmagic/sparkmagic/tests/test_usercodeparser.py
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ def test_other_line_magic():
 
     assert cell == parser.get_code_to_run(cell)
 
+def test_leading_whitespace_magic():
+    parser = UserCodeParser()
+    cell = """\n%magic
+hi
+hi
+hi"""
+
+    assert cell.lstrip() == parser.get_code_to_run(cell)
+
 
 def test_scala_code():
     parser = UserCodeParser()