diff --git a/lisp/progmodes/cperl-mode.el b/lisp/progmodes/cperl-mode.el
index c0f1aaf39d..c69eca2241 100644
--- a/lisp/progmodes/cperl-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/progmodes/cperl-mode.el
@@ -3734,7 +3734,7 @@ the sections using `cperl-pod-head-face', `cperl-pod-face',
 	   "\\(\\`\n?\\|^\n\\)="	; POD
 	   "\\|"
 	   ;; One extra () before this:
-	   "<<"				; HERE-DOC
+	   "<<~?"			; HERE-DOC
 	   "\\("			; 1 + 1
 	   ;; First variant "BLAH" or just ``.
 	   "[ \t]*"			; Yes, whitespace is allowed!
@@ -4000,7 +4000,7 @@ the sections using `cperl-pod-head-face', `cperl-pod-face',
 		  (setq b (point))
 		  ;; We do not search to max, since we may be called from
 		  ;; some hook of fontification, and max is random
-		  (or (and (re-search-forward (concat "^" qtag "$")
+		  (or (and (re-search-forward (concat "^[ \t]*" qtag "$")
 					      stop-point 'toend)
 			   ;;;(eq (following-char) ?\n) ; XXXX WHY???
 			   )