diff --git a/qutebrowser/misc/readline.py b/qutebrowser/misc/readline.py
index cb0ffd996..e527a9abe 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/misc/readline.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/misc/readline.py
@@ -158,7 +158,23 @@ class ReadlineBridge:
         widget = self._widget()
         if widget is None:
             return
-        widget.cursorWordBackward(True)
+        cursor_position = widget.cursorPosition()
+        text = widget.text()
+
+        target_position = cursor_position
+
+        is_word_boundary = True
+        while is_word_boundary and target_position > 0:
+            is_word_boundary = text[target_position - 1] == " "
+            target_position -= 1
+
+        is_word_boundary = False
+        while not is_word_boundary and target_position > 0:
+            is_word_boundary = text[target_position - 1] == " "
+            target_position -= 1
+
+        moveby = cursor_position - target_position - 1
+        widget.cursorBackward(True, moveby)
         self._deleted[widget] = widget.selectedText()
         widget.del_()
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/misc/test_readline.py b/tests/unit/misc/test_readline.py
index 5bd414f16..f59828779 100644
--- a/tests/unit/misc/test_readline.py
+++ b/tests/unit/misc/test_readline.py
@@ -234,6 +234,8 @@ def test_rl_kill_line(lineedit, bridge, text, deleted, rest):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('text, deleted, rest', [
     ('test delete|foobar', 'delete', 'test |foobar'),
     ('test delete |foobar', 'delete ', 'test |foobar'),
+    ('open -t github.com/foo/bar  |', 'github.com/foo/bar  ', 'open -t |'),
+    ('open -t |github.com/foo/bar', '-t ', 'open |github.com/foo/bar'),
     fixme(('test del<ete>foobar', 'delete', 'test |foobar')),
     ('test del<ete >foobar', 'del', 'test |ete foobar'),  # wrong
 ])