diff --git a/doerg/src/net/deertopia/doerg/tex/temml.clj b/doerg/src/net/deertopia/doerg/tex/temml.clj
index 9beefa0..46cfbf4 100644
--- a/doerg/src/net/deertopia/doerg/tex/temml.clj
+++ b/doerg/src/net/deertopia/doerg/tex/temml.clj
@@ -55,15 +55,18 @@
   (command-worker [s]))
 
 (defn render [s]
-  (if-let [[_ inner] (re-matches #"(?s)\\[(.*)\\]" s)]
-    (render-display inner)
-    (if (re-matches #"(?s)\\begin\{.+?}(.*?)\\end\{.+?}" s)
-      (render-display s)
-      (if-let [[_ inner] (re-matches #"(?s)\\\((.*)\\\)" s)]
-        (render-inline inner)
-        (throw (IllegalArgumentException.
-                (str "`net.deertopia.doerg.tex.temml` argument should"
-                     " be enclosed in math delimiters.")))))))
+  (let [s (str/trim s)]
+    (if-let [[_ inner] (re-matches #"(?s)\\\[(.*)\\]" s)]
+      (render-display inner)
+      (if (re-matches #"(?s)\\begin\{.+?}(.*?)\\end\{.+?}" s)
+        (render-display s)
+        (if-let [[_ inner] (re-matches #"(?s)\\\((.*)\\\)" s)]
+          (render-inline inner)
+          (throw (IllegalArgumentException.
+                  (ex-info
+                   (str "`net.deertopia.doerg.tex.temml` argument should"
+                        " be enclosed in math delimiters.")
+                   {:arg s}))))))))
 
 ;; hackky....
 (defn erroneous-output? [s]