diff --git a/contrib/window-management/eyebrowse/packages.el b/contrib/window-management/eyebrowse/packages.el
index a40dddbd8..2aa2b6941 100644
--- a/contrib/window-management/eyebrowse/packages.el
+++ b/contrib/window-management/eyebrowse/packages.el
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
         (let* ((num (eyebrowse--get 'current-slot))
                (str (if num (int-to-string num))))
           (cond
-           ((not dotspacemacs-mode-line-unicode-symbols) (concat " " str " "))
+           ((not dotspacemacs-mode-line-unicode-symbols) str)
            ((equal str "1") "➊")
            ((equal str "2") "➋")
            ((equal str "3") "➌")
diff --git a/spacemacs/packages.el b/spacemacs/packages.el
index 6f1b7634f..fbba9f722 100644
--- a/spacemacs/packages.el
+++ b/spacemacs/packages.el
@@ -2750,7 +2750,7 @@ It is a string holding:
       (let* ((num (window-numbering-get-number))
              (str (if num (int-to-string num))))
         (cond
-         ((not dotspacemacs-mode-line-unicode-symbols) (concat " " str " "))
+         ((not dotspacemacs-mode-line-unicode-symbols) str)
          ((equal str "1")  "➊")
          ((equal str "2")  "➋")
          ((equal str "3")  "➌")