diff --git a/pandas/io/formats/html.py b/pandas/io/formats/html.py
index adaeed017d7bf..fdea1831d5596 100644
--- a/pandas/io/formats/html.py
+++ b/pandas/io/formats/html.py
@@ -195,6 +195,8 @@ def _write_cell(
             esc = {}
 
         rs = pprint_thing(s, escape_chars=esc).strip()
+        # replace spaces betweens strings with non-breaking spaces
+        rs = rs.replace("  ", "  ")
 
         if self.render_links and is_url(rs):
             rs_unescaped = pprint_thing(s, escape_chars={}).strip()
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_format.py b/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_format.py
index 82cc3a838ca68..0dc16e1ebc723 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_format.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/formats/test_format.py
@@ -375,12 +375,29 @@ def test_repr_min_rows(self):
             (None, "{:.3f}", "None"),
             ("", "{:.2f}", ""),
             (112345.6789, "{:6.3f}", "112345.679"),
+            ("foo      foo", None, "foo      foo"),
+            (" foo", None, "foo"),
+            (
+                "foo foo       foo",
+                None,
+                "foo foo       foo",
+            ),  # odd no.of spaces
+            (
+                "foo foo    foo",
+                None,
+                "foo foo    foo",
+            ),  # even no.of spaces
         ],
     )
     def test_repr_float_formatting_html_output(
         self, data, format_option, expected_values
     ):
-        with option_context("display.float_format", format_option.format):
+        if format_option is not None:
+            with option_context("display.float_format", format_option.format):
+                df = DataFrame({"A": [data]})
+                html_output = df._repr_html_()
+                assert expected_values in html_output
+        else:
             df = DataFrame({"A": [data]})
             html_output = df._repr_html_()
             assert expected_values in html_output