diff --git a/gtk/Makefile.am b/gtk/Makefile.am
index 54a2ca4908dd285c78d237bb42265660f426703f..795c885da83b66f8f47a8882eaddbc2006031f80 100644
--- a/gtk/Makefile.am
+++ b/gtk/Makefile.am
@@ -1309,7 +1309,7 @@ gtk.gresource.xml: Makefile.am inspector/Makefile.inc
 	done; \
 	for f in $(srcdir)/ui/*.ui; do \
 	  n=`basename $$f`; \
-	  echo "    <file compressed='true'>ui/$$n</file>" >> $@; \
+	  echo "    <file preprocess='xml-stripblanks'>ui/$$n</file>" >> $@; \
 	done; \
 	for s in 16x16 22x22 24x24 32x32 48x48; do \
 	  for c in actions status; do \
@@ -1322,7 +1322,7 @@ gtk.gresource.xml: Makefile.am inspector/Makefile.inc
 	done; \
 	for f in $(srcdir)/inspector/*.ui; do \
 	  n=`basename $$f`; \
-	  echo "    <file compressed='true'>inspector/$$n</file>" >> $@; \
+	  echo "    <file compressed='true' preprocess='xml-stripblanks'>inspector/$$n</file>" >> $@; \
 	done; \
 	echo "    <file>inspector/logo.png</file>" >> $@; \
 	echo "    <file>emoji/emoji.data</file>" >> $@; \