diff --git a/core/core-ui.el b/core/core-ui.el
index c3fec02fa..ffb5585f8 100644
--- a/core/core-ui.el
+++ b/core/core-ui.el
@@ -341,7 +341,9 @@ DEFAULT is non-nil, set the default mode-line for all buffers."
 (defun doom|show-whitespace-maybe ()
   "Show whitespace-mode when file has an `indent-tabs-mode' that is different
 from the default."
-  (unless (or (eq indent-tabs-mode (default-value 'indent-tabs-mode))
+  (unless (or (bound-and-true-p global-whitespace-mode)
+              (bound-and-true-p whitespace-mode)
+              (eq indent-tabs-mode (default-value 'indent-tabs-mode))
               (eq major-mode 'fundamental-mode)
               (derived-mode-p 'special-mode))
     (require 'whitespace)