diff --git a/doc/01-basic-usage.md b/doc/01-basic-usage.md
index 06d2a8c5d..abf684488 100644
--- a/doc/01-basic-usage.md
+++ b/doc/01-basic-usage.md
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ Version constraints can be specified in a few different ways.
 Name           | Example                                                            | Description
 -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -----------
 Exact version  | `1.0.2`                                                            | You can specify the exact version of a package.
-Range          | `>=1.0` `>=1.0,<2.0` <code>&gt;=1.0,&lt;1.1 &#124; &gt;=1.2</code> | By using comparison operators you can specify ranges of valid versions. Valid operators are `>`, `>=`, `<`, `<=`, `!=`. <br />You can define multiple ranges. Ranges separated by a comma (`,`) will be treated as a **logical AND**. A pipe (<code>&#124;</code>) will be treated as a **logical OR**. AND has higher precedence than OR.
+Range          | `>=1.0` `>=1.0,<2.0` <code>&gt;=1.0,&lt;1.1 &#124; &gt;=1.2</code> | By using comparison operators you can specify ranges of valid versions. Valid operators are `>`, `>=`, `<`, `<=`, `!=`. <br />You can define multiple ranges. Ranges separated by a space (` `) or comma (`,`) will be treated as a **logical AND**. A pipe (<code>&#124;</code>) will be treated as a **logical OR**. AND has higher precedence than OR.
 Wildcard       | `1.0.*`                                                            | You can specify a pattern with a `*` wildcard. `1.0.*` is the equivalent of `>=1.0,<1.1`.
 Tilde Operator | `~1.2`                                                             | Very useful for projects that follow semantic versioning. `~1.2` is equivalent to `>=1.2,<2.0`. For more details, read the next section below.
 
diff --git a/doc/04-schema.md b/doc/04-schema.md
index c768edb72..9799b4a5c 100644
--- a/doc/04-schema.md
+++ b/doc/04-schema.md
@@ -345,10 +345,10 @@ dependencies from being installed.
 Lists packages that conflict with this version of this package. They
 will not be allowed to be installed together with your package.
 
-Note that when specifying ranges like `<1.0, >= 1.1` in a `conflict` link,
+Note that when specifying ranges like `<1.0 >=1.1` in a `conflict` link,
 this will state a conflict with all versions that are less than 1.0 *and* equal
 or newer than 1.1 at the same time, which is probably not what you want. You
-probably want to go for `<1.0 | >= 1.1` in this case.
+probably want to go for `<1.0 | >=1.1` in this case.
 
 #### replace
 
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/Version/VersionParser.php b/src/Composer/Package/Version/VersionParser.php
index a141bdc43..a2ad3bd11 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/Version/VersionParser.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/Version/VersionParser.php
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ class VersionParser
         $orConstraints = preg_split('{\s*\|\s*}', trim($constraints));
         $orGroups = array();
         foreach ($orConstraints as $constraints) {
-            $andConstraints = preg_split('{\s*,\s*}', $constraints);
+            $andConstraints = preg_split('{(?<!as|[=><])\s*[, ]+\s*(?!as)}', $constraints);
 
             if (count($andConstraints) > 1) {
                 $constraintObjects = array();
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Version/VersionParserTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Version/VersionParserTest.php
index c8136f6f3..5a15dd714 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Version/VersionParserTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Version/VersionParserTest.php
@@ -221,6 +221,8 @@ class VersionParserTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
             'completes version' => array('=1.0',        new VersionConstraint('=', '1.0.0.0')),
             'shorthand beta'    => array('1.2.3b5',     new VersionConstraint('=', '1.2.3.0-beta5')),
             'accepts spaces'    => array('>= 1.2.3',    new VersionConstraint('>=', '1.2.3.0')),
+            'accepts spaces/2'  => array('< 1.2.3',     new VersionConstraint('<', '1.2.3.0-dev')),
+            'accepts spaces/3'  => array('> 1.2.3',     new VersionConstraint('>', '1.2.3.0')),
             'accepts master'    => array('>=dev-master',    new VersionConstraint('>=', '9999999-dev')),
             'accepts master/2'  => array('dev-master',      new VersionConstraint('=', '9999999-dev')),
             'accepts arbitrary' => array('dev-feature-a',   new VersionConstraint('=', 'dev-feature-a')),
@@ -291,13 +293,27 @@ class VersionParserTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         );
     }
 
-    public function testParseConstraintsMulti()
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider multiConstraintProvider
+     */
+    public function testParseConstraintsMulti($constraint)
     {
         $parser = new VersionParser;
         $first = new VersionConstraint('>', '2.0.0.0');
         $second = new VersionConstraint('<=', '3.0.0.0');
         $multi = new MultiConstraint(array($first, $second));
-        $this->assertSame((string) $multi, (string) $parser->parseConstraints('>2.0,<=3.0'));
+        $this->assertSame((string) $multi, (string) $parser->parseConstraints($constraint));
+    }
+
+    public function multiConstraintProvider()
+    {
+        return array(
+            array('>2.0,<=3.0'),
+            array('>2.0 <=3.0'),
+            array('>2.0, <=3.0'),
+            array('>2.0 ,<=3.0'),
+            array('>2.0 , <=3.0'),
+        );
     }
 
     public function testParseConstraintsMultiWithStabilitySuffix()