diff --git a/django/utils/text.py b/django/utils/text.py
index 14555ddd0e..eaafb96d7c 100644
--- a/django/utils/text.py
+++ b/django/utils/text.py
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ capfirst = lambda x: x and force_unicode(x)[0].upper() + force_unicode(x)[1:]
 capfirst = allow_lazy(capfirst, unicode)
 
 # Set up regular expressions
-re_words = re.compile(r'&.*?;|<.*?>|(\w[\w-]*)', re.U)
-re_tag = re.compile(r'<(/)?([^ ]+?)(?: (/)| .*?)?>')
+re_words = re.compile(r'&.*?;|<.*?>|(\w[\w-]*)', re.U|re.S)
+re_tag = re.compile(r'<(/)?([^ ]+?)(?: (/)| .*?)?>', re.S)
 
 
 def wrap(text, width):
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/utils/text.py b/tests/regressiontests/utils/text.py
index d4aa53fba9..aae75339bc 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/utils/text.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/utils/text.py
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ class TestUtilsText(unittest.TestCase):
             '</strong></p>', truncator.words(4, '....', html=True))
         self.assertEqual(u'<p><strong><em>The quick brown fox</em></strong>'
             '</p>', truncator.words(4, '', html=True))
+        # Test with new line inside tag
+        truncator = text.Truncator('<p>The quick <a href="xyz.html"\n'
+            'id="mylink">brown fox</a> jumped over the lazy dog.</p>')
+        self.assertEqual(u'<p>The quick <a href="xyz.html"\n'
+            'id="mylink">brown...</a></p>', truncator.words(3, '...', html=True))
 
     def test_old_truncate_words(self):
         self.assertEqual(u'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.',