diff --git a/gui/chatblockmodel.cpp b/gui/chatblockmodel.cpp
index 18a3789..ef7f250 100644
--- a/gui/chatblockmodel.cpp
+++ b/gui/chatblockmodel.cpp
@@ -78,8 +78,9 @@ QVariant ChatBlockModel::data(const QModelIndex &index, int role) const
         if (trimmed.startsWith(QLatin1String("---")) || trimmed.startsWith(QLatin1String("diff "))) {
             return highlightedHtml(content, QStringLiteral("Diff"));
         }
-        // Plain text: escape and add line breaks
-        return content.toHtmlEscaped().replace('\n', QLatin1String("<br>"));
+        // Plain text: preserve whitespace
+        return QStringLiteral("<pre style=\"margin:0;white-space:pre-wrap;\">")
+            + content.toHtmlEscaped() + QStringLiteral("</pre>");
     }
     }
     return {};
@@ -374,7 +375,8 @@ QString ChatBlockModel::highlightedHtml(const QString &code, const QString &lang
         def = repo().definitionForFileName("file." + language);
     }
     if (!def.isValid()) {
-        QString plain = code.toHtmlEscaped().replace('\n', QStringLiteral("<br>"));
+        QString plain = QStringLiteral("<pre style=\"margin:0;white-space:pre-wrap;\">")
+            + code.toHtmlEscaped() + QStringLiteral("</pre>");
         m_highlightCache.insert(cacheKey, plain);
         return plain;
     }
@@ -390,14 +392,16 @@ QString ChatBlockModel::highlightedHtml(const QString &code, const QString &lang
 
     KSyntaxHighlighting::State state;
     const QStringList lines = code.split('\n');
+    QString result = QStringLiteral("<pre style=\"margin:0;white-space:pre-wrap;\">");
     for (int i = 0; i < lines.size(); ++i) {
         state = builder.processLine(lines[i], state);
         if (i < lines.size() - 1)
-            builder.html += QStringLiteral("<br>");
+            builder.html += '\n';
     }
+    result += builder.html + QStringLiteral("</pre>");
 
-    m_highlightCache.insert(cacheKey, builder.html);
-    return builder.html;
+    m_highlightCache.insert(cacheKey, result);
+    return result;
 }
 
 QString ChatBlockModel::prettyJson(const QString &text) const