diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 44c90cdf8..ea2c9167f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ fmt: lint
 lint: tidy
 lint: $(LINTER)
 	@echo "Performing linting step..."
+	@./tools/whitespace_linter
 	@./$(LINTER) run --config $(LINTER_CONFIG)
 	@echo "Linting completed successfully"
 
diff --git a/tools/whitespace_linter b/tools/whitespace_linter
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..280cef5da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/whitespace_linter
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# git 1.9.0+ allows for exclusions in pathspecs via ':!foo' syntax.
+# However, until git 2.13.0 there must be at least one "inclusive" pathspec, hence the './*'
+trailing_whitespace=$(git grep -E -n -- ' +$' -- './*' ':!*.png')
+
+if [[ -n "$trailing_whitespace" ]]; then
+  printf "ERROR: Trailing whitespaces:\n"
+  awk 'BEGIN {FS=":"} {printf " * %s:%s\n", $1, $2}' <<< "$trailing_whitespace"
+  exit 1
+fi