diff --git a/@commitlint/rules/src/header-trim.ts b/@commitlint/rules/src/header-trim.ts
index 289c1881a0..05edeab268 100644
--- a/@commitlint/rules/src/header-trim.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/rules/src/header-trim.ts
@@ -4,27 +4,19 @@ import { SyncRule } from "@commitlint/types";
 export const headerTrim: SyncRule = (parsed) => {
 	const { header } = parsed;
 
-	if (!header) {
-		return [true];
-	}
+	if (!header) return [true];
 
-	const startsWithWhiteSpace = header !== header.trimStart();
-	const endsWithWhiteSpace = header !== header.trimEnd();
+	const startsWithWhiteSpace = header.length > header.trimStart().length;
+	const endsWithWhiteSpace = header.length > header.trimEnd().length;
 
-	switch (true) {
-		case startsWithWhiteSpace && endsWithWhiteSpace:
-			return [
-				false,
-				message(["header", "must not be surrounded by whitespace"]),
-			];
+	if (startsWithWhiteSpace && endsWithWhiteSpace)
+		return [false, message(["header", "must not be surrounded by whitespace"])];
 
-		case startsWithWhiteSpace:
-			return [false, message(["header", "must not start with whitespace"])];
+	if (startsWithWhiteSpace)
+		return [false, message(["header", "must not start with whitespace"])];
 
-		case endsWithWhiteSpace:
-			return [false, message(["header", "must not end with whitespace"])];
+	if (endsWithWhiteSpace)
+		return [false, message(["header", "must not end with whitespace"])];
 
-		default:
-			return [true];
-	}
+	return [true];
 };