diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 2e2c75d2..c892e970 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # roxygen2 (development version)
 
+* All tags warn now if you only provide whitespace (#1228).
+
 * Add support for inheriting 'note' fields via `@inherit pkg::fun note` (@pat-s, #1218)
 
 * Problems with the first tag in each block are now reported with the
diff --git a/R/tag-parser.R b/R/tag-parser.R
index 2e0a13b5..b5bc5e00 100644
--- a/R/tag-parser.R
+++ b/R/tag-parser.R
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ NULL
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_value <- function(x) {
-  if (x$raw == "") {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a value")
   } else if (!rdComplete(x$raw, is_code = FALSE)) {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "mismatched braces or quotes")
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ tag_value <- function(x) {
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_inherit <- function(x) {
-  if (x$raw == "") {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a value")
   } else if (!rdComplete(x$raw, is_code = FALSE)) {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "mismatched braces or quotes")
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ tag_inherit <- function(x) {
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_name <- function(x) {
-  if (x$raw == "") {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a name")
   } else if (!rdComplete(x$raw, is_code = FALSE)) {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "mismatched braces or quotes")
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ tag_toggle <- function(x) {
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_code <- function(x) {
-  if (x$raw == "") {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
     roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a value")
   } else {
     tryCatch({
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ tag_code <- function(x) {
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_examples <- function(x) {
-  if (x$raw == "") {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
     return(roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a value"))
   }
 
@@ -193,6 +193,10 @@ tag_examples <- function(x) {
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_markdown <- function(x) {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
+    return(roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a value"))
+  }
+
   x$val <- markdown_if_active(x$raw, x)
   x
 }
@@ -200,7 +204,7 @@ tag_markdown <- function(x) {
 #' @export
 #' @rdname tag_parsers
 tag_markdown_with_sections <- function(x) {
-  if (x$raw == "") {
+  if (str_trim(x$raw) == "") {
     return(roxy_tag_warning(x, "requires a value"))
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-tag-parser.R b/tests/testthat/test-tag-parser.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..978f96d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-tag-parser.R
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+test_that("tags containing only whitespace generate warning", {
+  tag <- roxy_tag("foo", " ")
+
+  expect_parse_failure <- function(code)  {
+    expect_warning(out <- code, "requires")
+    expect_null(out)
+  }
+
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_value(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_inherit(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_name(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_two_part(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_name_description(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_code(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_examples(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_markdown(tag))
+  expect_parse_failure(tag_markdown_with_sections(tag))
+})