diff --git a/crates/pdf/src/import_text.rs b/crates/pdf/src/import_text.rs
index b6458de60..062d202c9 100644
--- a/crates/pdf/src/import_text.rs
+++ b/crates/pdf/src/import_text.rs
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ struct Gap {
 }
 
 /// The spacing a line's letters share (letter-spaced type), in ems: the gap a third of the way up
-/// from the narrowest, of three or more along the line. Never below zero, and at most half an em:
-/// glyphs set wider apart than that are words or columns, not tracked letters.
+/// from the narrowest, of three or more along the line. Never below zero, and none at all past
+/// half an em: glyphs set wider apart than that are words or columns, not tracked letters.
 fn common_gap(gaps: &[Gap]) -> f64 {
     let mut widths: Vec<f64> = gaps.iter().filter(|g| g.on_line).map(|g| g.width / g.em).filter(|w| w.is_finite()).collect();
     if widths.len() < 3 {
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ fn common_gap(gaps: &[Gap]) -> f64 {
     }
     let pivot = widths.len() / 3;
     let (_, common, _) = widths.select_nth_unstable_by(pivot, f64::total_cmp);
-    common.clamp(0.0, 0.5)
+    if *common > 0.5 { 0.0 } else { common.max(0.0) }
 }
 
 /// A line of type being gathered: runs of glyphs on one baseline.
@@ -386,7 +386,8 @@ impl TextLine {
         t.runs.extend(runs);
         // A gap wider than a fifth of an em, past the spacing the line's letters share, reads as a
         // space. Letter spacing is read only in text left in the file's order.
-        let common = if t.para.direction.is_none() { common_gap(&self.gaps) } else { 0.0 };
+        let directed = vectorcraft_text::logical_order(&t.plain_text()).is_some();
+        let common = if directed { 0.0 } else { common_gap(&self.gaps) };
         let mut spaces = vec![];
         for gap in &self.gaps {
             // A word space set at exactly a fifth of an em still counts, whatever the rounding.
diff --git a/crates/pdf/src/tests_live_text.rs b/crates/pdf/src/tests_live_text.rs
index ba48de415..cf61b6179 100644
--- a/crates/pdf/src/tests_live_text.rs
+++ b/crates/pdf/src/tests_live_text.rs
@@ -127,15 +127,21 @@ fn common_tracking_does_not_turn_gaps_into_spaces() {
     }
 }
 
-/// Glyphs set an em or more apart, each on its own, are words or columns: every gap stays a space,
-/// however evenly they are spaced.
+/// Glyphs set more than half an em apart, each on its own, are words or columns: every gap stays a
+/// space, however evenly they are spaced.
 #[test]
 fn evenly_wide_gaps_stay_spaces() {
-    let lines: Vec<_> = ["1", "2", "3", "4"].iter().enumerate().map(|(i, text)| (20.0 + i as f32 * 18.0, 60.0, 12.0, *text)).collect();
-    let d = import_with_report(&text_pdf(&lines, false), &ImportOptions::default()).unwrap().document;
-    let t = texts(&d);
-    assert_eq!(t.len(), 1, "{t:?}");
-    assert_eq!(t[0].plain_text(), "1 2 3 4");
+    let font = vectorcraft_text::FontDb::global().find_postscript("SourceSans3-Regular").unwrap();
+    let size = 12.0_f32;
+    let one = font.advance(font.glyph_for('1')) as f32 / font.units_per_em() as f32 * size;
+    for gap in [0.55_f32, 0.75, 1.0] {
+        let lines: Vec<_> =
+            ["1", "2", "3", "4"].iter().enumerate().map(|(i, text)| (20.0 + i as f32 * (one + gap * size), 60.0, size, *text)).collect();
+        let d = import_with_report(&text_pdf(&lines, false), &ImportOptions::default()).unwrap().document;
+        let t = texts(&d);
+        assert_eq!(t.len(), 1, "gap {gap} em: {t:?}");
+        assert_eq!(t[0].plain_text(), "1 2 3 4", "gap {gap} em");
+    }
 }
 
 /// Embedded font data is untrusted: anything that isn't a CID-keyed CFF is no table, never a panic.