diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index 03acd7edafa..2e4155e6c0d 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2012-05-29  Chong Yidong  <cyd@gnu.org>
+
+	* whitespace.el (whitespace-cleanup): Fix usage of
+	whitespace-empty-at-bob-regexp (Bug#11492).
+
 2012-05-29  Aaron S. Hawley  <aaron.s.hawley@gmail.com>
 
 	* vc/vc.el (vc-revert, vc-rollback): Dont kill vc-diff buffer on
diff --git a/lisp/whitespace.el b/lisp/whitespace.el
index e752dc56553..a529725fc38 100644
--- a/lisp/whitespace.el
+++ b/lisp/whitespace.el
@@ -1533,8 +1533,7 @@ documentation."
 	(when (memq 'empty whitespace-style)
 	  (let (overwrite-mode)		; enforce no overwrite
 	    (goto-char (point-min))
-	    (when (re-search-forward
-		   (concat "\\`" whitespace-empty-at-bob-regexp) nil t)
+	    (when (looking-at whitespace-empty-at-bob-regexp)
 	      (delete-region (match-beginning 1) (match-end 1)))
 	    (when (re-search-forward
 		   (concat whitespace-empty-at-eob-regexp "\\'") nil t)