diff --git a/packages/find-and-replace/lib/find-options.js b/packages/find-and-replace/lib/find-options.js
index 0ac5efb73f..c75ca5cf9e 100644
--- a/packages/find-and-replace/lib/find-options.js
+++ b/packages/find-and-replace/lib/find-options.js
@@ -90,7 +90,17 @@ module.exports = class FindOptions {
       expression = escapeRegExp(this.findPattern);
     }
 
-    if (this.wholeWord) { expression = `\\b${expression}\\b`; }
+    if (this.wholeWord) {
+      // https://github.com/pulsar-edit/pulsar/pull/987
+      // wholeWord is usually defined by `\\b${expression}\\b`,
+      // where \\b is a word boundary: a position between a word and non-word character.
+      //
+      // However, if the selection (the "word") starts or ends with a non-word character,
+      // then, say, `$word` in ` $word ` isnt selected, as both the space and the dollar
+      // are non-word characters. To allow this, we can either have a word boundary or
+      // a lookahead/lookbehind for the start/end non-word character:
+      expression = `(?:\\b|(?=\\W))${expression}(?:\\b|(?<=\\W))`;
+    }
 
     return new RegExp(expression, flags);
   }
diff --git a/packages/find-and-replace/spec/find-view-spec.js b/packages/find-and-replace/spec/find-view-spec.js
index d41ca02e3b..cc220560a5 100644
--- a/packages/find-and-replace/spec/find-view-spec.js
+++ b/packages/find-and-replace/spec/find-view-spec.js
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ describe("FindView", () => {
     return workspaceElement.querySelector(".find-and-replace").parentNode;
   }
 
+  // usage:
+  // getResultDecorations(editor, "current-result") --> length = number of currently selected results (usually 1, after a
+  //                                                                atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");)
+  // getResultDecorations(editor, "find-result") --> length = number of results that are not currently selected (usually = # results - 1)
   function getResultDecorations(editor, clazz) {
     const result = [];
     const decorations = editor.decorationsStateForScreenRowRange(0, editor.getLineCount())
@@ -458,6 +462,40 @@ describe("FindView", () => {
         expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "find-result")).toHaveLength(1);
         expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "current-result")).toHaveLength(1);
       });
+
+      it("finds the whole words even when the word starts or ends with a non-word character", () => {
+        // Arguably, a non-symbol doesn't form a whole word when surrounded by the same non-symbols,
+        // but the current code doesn't check for that.
+        findView.findEditor.setText("-");
+        atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");
+        expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "find-result")).toHaveLength(7);
+        expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "current-result")).toHaveLength(1);
+
+        findView.findEditor.setText("-word");
+        atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");
+        expect(editor.getSelectedBufferRange()).toEqual([[2, 5], [2, 10]]);
+
+        // The cursor is on line 2 because of ^^ so the first find is on line 4
+        findView.findEditor.setText("whole-");
+        atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");
+        expect(editor.getSelectedBufferRange()).toEqual([[4, 0], [4, 6]]);
+        atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");
+        expect(editor.getSelectedBufferRange()).toEqual([[2, 0], [2, 6]]);
+      });
+
+      it("doesn't highlight the search inside words (non-word character at start)", () => {
+        findView.findEditor.setText("-word");
+        atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");
+        expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "find-result")).toHaveLength(0);
+        expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "current-result")).toHaveLength(1);
+      });
+
+      it("doesn't highlight the search inside words (non-word character at end)", () => {
+        findView.findEditor.setText("whole-");
+        atom.commands.dispatch(findView.findEditor.element, "core:confirm");
+        expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "find-result")).toHaveLength(1);
+        expect(getResultDecorations(editor, "current-result")).toHaveLength(1);
+      });
     });
 
     it("doesn't change the selection, beeps if there are no matches and keeps focus on the find view", () => {
diff --git a/packages/find-and-replace/spec/project-find-view-spec.js b/packages/find-and-replace/spec/project-find-view-spec.js
index 4d019f41ca..d620f744ab 100644
--- a/packages/find-and-replace/spec/project-find-view-spec.js
+++ b/packages/find-and-replace/spec/project-find-view-spec.js
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ describe(`ProjectFindView (ripgrep=${ripgrep})`, () => {
 
         await resultsPromise();
         expect(projectFindView.refs.wholeWordOptionButton).toHaveClass('selected');
-        expect(atom.workspace.scan.mostRecentCall.args[0]).toEqual(/\bwholeword\b/gim);
+        expect(atom.workspace.scan.mostRecentCall.args[0]).toEqual(/(?:\b|(?=\W))wholeword(?:\b|(?<=\W))/gim);
       });
 
       it("toggles whole word option via a button and finds files matching the pattern", async () => {
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@ describe(`ProjectFindView (ripgrep=${ripgrep})`, () => {
         await resultsPromise();
 
         expect(projectFindView.refs.wholeWordOptionButton).toHaveClass('selected');
-        expect(atom.workspace.scan.mostRecentCall.args[0]).toEqual(/\bwholeword\b/gim);
+        expect(atom.workspace.scan.mostRecentCall.args[0]).toEqual(/(?:\b|(?=\W))wholeword(?:\b|(?<=\W))/gim);
       });
     });