diff --git a/pandas/formats/format.py b/pandas/formats/format.py
index 7706666142a64..20065c6d9c4b6 100644
--- a/pandas/formats/format.py
+++ b/pandas/formats/format.py
@@ -604,8 +604,15 @@ def to_string(self):
                 self._chk_truncate()
                 strcols = self._to_str_columns()
                 text = self.adj.adjoin(1, *strcols)
-        if not self.index:
-            text = text.replace('\n ', '\n').strip()
+
+        first_column_dtype = (None if len(frame.columns) == 0
+            else frame.dtypes[frame.columns[0]])
+        if not self.index and first_column_dtype.kind != 'O':
+            # Remove a single space from the beginning of each line
+            # and remove any trailing spaces
+            if len(text) > 0 and text[0] == ' ':
+                text = text[1:]
+            text = text.replace('\n ', '\n').rstrip()
         self.buf.writelines(text)
 
         if self.should_show_dimensions:
diff --git a/pandas/tests/formats/test_format.py b/pandas/tests/formats/test_format.py
index 3bbfd621d2342..4b070415b5ab9 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/formats/test_format.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/formats/test_format.py
@@ -1974,11 +1974,46 @@ def test_to_string_no_header(self):
         self.assertEqual(df_s, expected)
 
     def test_to_string_no_index(self):
-        df = DataFrame({'x': [1, 2, 3], 'y': [4, 5, 6]})
+        df = DataFrame({'aaaaa': [100, 200, 300], 'bbbbb': [400, 500, 600]})
+        df_s = df.to_string(index=False)
+        expected = "aaaaa  bbbbb\n" \
+                   "  100    400\n" \
+                   "  200    500\n" \
+                   "  300    600"
+        self.assertEqual(df_s, expected)
 
+        df = DataFrame({'aaa': [100, 200, 300], 'bbb': [400, 500, 600]})
         df_s = df.to_string(index=False)
-        expected = "x  y\n1  4\n2  5\n3  6"
+        expected = "aaa  bbb\n" \
+                   "100  400\n" \
+                   "200  500\n" \
+                   "300  600"
+        self.assertEqual(df_s, expected)
 
+        df = DataFrame({'a': [100, 200, 300], 'b': [400, 500, 600]})
+        df_s = df.to_string(index=False)
+        expected = "  a    b\n" \
+                   "100  400\n" \
+                   "200  500\n" \
+                   "300  600"
+        self.assertEqual(df_s, expected)
+
+        df = DataFrame({'aaaaa': ['xxx', 'xxx', 'xxx'],
+                        'bbbbb': ['xxx', 'xxx', 'xxx']})
+        df_s = df.to_string(index=False)
+        expected = "aaaaa bbbbb\n" \
+                   "  xxx   xxx\n" \
+                   "  xxx   xxx\n" \
+                   "  xxx   xxx"
+        self.assertEqual(df_s, expected)
+
+        df = DataFrame({'aaaaa': [-1.0, -2.0, -3.0],
+                        'bbbbb': [-4.0, -5.0, -6.0]})
+        df_s = df.to_string(index=False)
+        expected = "aaaaa  bbbbb\n" \
+                   " -1.0   -4.0\n" \
+                   " -2.0   -5.0\n" \
+                   " -3.0   -6.0"
         self.assertEqual(df_s, expected)
 
     def test_to_string_line_width_no_index(self):