diff --git a/src/wp-includes/formatting.php b/src/wp-includes/formatting.php
index f8d1e74264..2bfb1376b6 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -174,9 +174,9 @@ function wptexturize($text, $reset = false) {
 
 		// Dashes and spaces
 		$dynamic[ '/---/' ] = $em_dash;
-		$dynamic[ '/(?<=' . $spaces . ')--(?=' . $spaces . ')/' ] = $em_dash;
+		$dynamic[ '/(?<=^|' . $spaces . ')--(?=$|' . $spaces . ')/' ] = $em_dash;
 		$dynamic[ '/(?<!xn)--/' ] = $en_dash;
-		$dynamic[ '/(?<=' . $spaces . ')-(?=' . $spaces . ')/' ] = $en_dash;
+		$dynamic[ '/(?<=^|' . $spaces . ')-(?=$|' . $spaces . ')/' ] = $en_dash;
 
 		$dynamic_characters['dash'] = array_keys( $dynamic );
 		$dynamic_replacements['dash'] = array_values( $dynamic );
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/WPTexturize.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/WPTexturize.php
index 8776f44795..99db9f4a71 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/WPTexturize.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/WPTexturize.php
@@ -208,6 +208,19 @@ class Tests_Formatting_WPTexturize extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$this->assertEquals( "$nbsp&#8212; ", wptexturize( "$nbsp-- ") );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 31030
+	 */
+	function test_hyphens_at_start_and_end() {
+		$this->assertEquals( '&#8211; ', wptexturize( '- ' ) );
+		$this->assertEquals( '&#8211; &#8211;', wptexturize( '- -' ) );
+		$this->assertEquals( ' &#8211;', wptexturize( ' -' ) );
+
+		$this->assertEquals( '&#8212; ', wptexturize( '-- ' ) );
+		$this->assertEquals( '&#8212; &#8212;', wptexturize( '-- --' ) );
+		$this->assertEquals( ' &#8212;', wptexturize( ' --' ) );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Test spaces around quotes.
 	 *