diff --git a/src/Forms/RequiredFields.php b/src/Forms/RequiredFields.php
index 3f0e055c0b7..9e226309237 100644
--- a/src/Forms/RequiredFields.php
+++ b/src/Forms/RequiredFields.php
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@
  */
 class RequiredFields extends Validator
 {
+    /**
+     * Whether to globally allow whitespace only as a valid value for a required field
+     * Can be overridden on a per-instance basis
+     */
+    private static bool $allow_whitespace_only = true;
 
     /**
      * List of required fields
@@ -22,6 +27,12 @@ class RequiredFields extends Validator
      */
     protected $required;
 
+    /**
+     * Whether to allow whitespace only as a valid value for a required field for this instance
+     * By default, this is set to null which will revert to the global default
+     */
+    private ?bool $allowWhitespaceOnly = null;
+
     /**
      * Pass each field to be validated as a separate argument to the constructor
      * of this object. (an array of elements are ok).
@@ -41,6 +52,22 @@ public function __construct()
         parent::__construct();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get whether to allow whitespace only as a valid value for a required field
+     */
+    public function getAllowWhitespaceOnly(): ?bool
+    {
+        return $this->allowWhitespaceOnly ?? static::config()->get('allow_whitespace_only');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set whether to allow whitespace only as a valid value for a required field
+     */
+    public function setAllowWhitespaceOnly(?bool $allow)
+    {
+        $this->allowWhitespaceOnly = $allow;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Clears all the validation from this object.
      *
@@ -122,6 +149,10 @@ public function php($data)
                 }
             } else {
                 $stringValue = (string) $value;
+                if (!$this->getAllowWhitespaceOnly()) {
+                    $stringValue = preg_replace('/^\s+/u', '', $stringValue);
+                    $stringValue = preg_replace('/\s+$/u', '', $stringValue);
+                }
                 if (is_a($formField, HasOneRelationFieldInterface::class)) {
                     // test for blank string as well as '0' because older versions of silverstripe/admin FormBuilder
                     // forms created using redux-form would have a value of null for unsaved records
diff --git a/tests/php/Forms/RequiredFieldsTest.php b/tests/php/Forms/RequiredFieldsTest.php
index 5c080cfc9f9..d6b08255739 100644
--- a/tests/php/Forms/RequiredFieldsTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Forms/RequiredFieldsTest.php
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 use SilverStripe\Forms\SearchableDropdownField;
 use SilverStripe\Forms\TreeDropdownField;
 use SilverStripe\Security\Group;
+use SilverStripe\Forms\TextField;
+use SilverStripe\Forms\FieldList;
 
 class RequiredFieldsTest extends SapphireTest
 {
@@ -322,4 +324,135 @@ public function testHasOneRelationFieldInterfaceValidation(string $className)
         // '1' passes required field validation
         $this->assertTrue($validator->php(['TestField' => '1']));
     }
+
+    public static function provideAllowWhitespaceOnly(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            'no-ws-false' => [
+                'value' => 'abc',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'no-ws-true' => [
+                'value' => 'abc',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'left-ws-false' => [
+                'value' => ' abc',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'left-ws-true' => [
+                'value' => ' abc',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'right-ws-false' => [
+                'value' => 'abc ',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'right-ws-true' => [
+                'value' => 'abc ',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'both-ws-false' => [
+                'value' => ' abc ',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'both-ws-true' => [
+                'value' => ' abc ',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'only-ws-false' => [
+                'value' => ' ',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => false,
+            ],
+            'only-ws-true' => [
+                'value' => ' ',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'only-ws-nbsp-false' => [
+                'value' => "\xc2\xa0",
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => false,
+            ],
+            'only-ws-nbsp-true' => [
+                'value' => "\xc2\xa0",
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'only-ws-unicode-false' => [
+                // zero width no-break space
+                'value' => "\u{2028}",
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => false,
+            ],
+            'only-ws-unicode-true' => [
+                // zero width no-break space
+                'value' => "\u{2028}",
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => true,
+            ],
+            'no-value-false' => [
+                'value' => '',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => false,
+                'expected' => false,
+            ],
+            'no-value-true' => [
+                'value' => '',
+                'allowWhitespaceOnly' => true,
+                'expected' => false,
+            ],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider provideAllowWhitespaceOnly
+     */
+    public function testAllowWhitespaceOnlyConfig(
+        string $value,
+        bool $allowWhitespaceOnly,
+        bool $expected,
+    ): void {
+        $validator = new RequiredFields(['TestField']);
+        $this->assertSame(true, $validator->getAllowWhitespaceOnly());
+        $field = new TextField('TestField');
+        $field->setValue($value);
+        $form = new Form(null, null, new FieldList([$field]), null, $validator);
+        RequiredFields::config()->set('allow_whitespace_only', $allowWhitespaceOnly);
+        $result = $validator->validate($form);
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $result->isValid());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider provideAllowWhitespaceOnly
+     */
+    public function testAllowWhitespaceOnlySetter(
+        string $value,
+        bool $allowWhitespaceOnly,
+        bool $expected,
+    ): void {
+        $validator = new RequiredFields(['TestField']);
+        $validator->setAllowWhitespaceOnly($allowWhitespaceOnly);
+        $this->assertSame($allowWhitespaceOnly, $validator->getAllowWhitespaceOnly());
+        $field = new TextField('TestField');
+        $field->setValue($value);
+        $form = new Form(null, null, new FieldList([$field]), null, $validator);
+        $result = $validator->validate($form);
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $result->isValid());
+        // assert that global config makes no difference
+        RequiredFields::config()->set('allow_whitespace_only', true);
+        $result = $validator->validate($form);
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $result->isValid());
+        RequiredFields::config()->set('allow_whitespace_only', false);
+        $result = $validator->validate($form);
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $result->isValid());
+    }
 }