diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/capa_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/capa_module.py
index 66cae5c0da..4212161d44 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/capa_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/capa_module.py
@@ -35,13 +35,6 @@ from .capa_base import CapaMixin, ComplexEncoder, _
 log = logging.getLogger("edx.courseware")
 
 
-def _remove_html_tags_and_extra_spaces(data):
-    """ Remove html tags and extra white spaces e.g newline, tabs etc from provided data """
-    cleaner = Cleaner(tags=[], strip=True)
-    cleaned_text = " ".join(re.split(r"\s+", cleaner.clean(data), flags=re.UNICODE)).strip()
-    return cleaned_text
-
-
 @XBlock.wants('user')
 @XBlock.needs('i18n')
 class ProblemBlock(
@@ -310,11 +303,7 @@ class ProblemBlock(
         xblock_body = super(ProblemBlock, self).index_dictionary()
 
         # Make optioninput's options index friendly by replacing the actual tag with the values
-        capa_content = re.sub(
-            r'<optioninput options="\(([^"]+)\)".*?>\s*|\S*<\/optioninput>',
-            lambda matched: matched.group(1).replace("'", '').replace(",", ", ") if matched.group(1) else None,
-            self.data
-        )
+        capa_content = re.sub(r'<optioninput options="\(([^"]+)\)".*?>\s*|\S*<\/optioninput>', r'\1', self.data)
 
         # Removing solutions and hints, as well as script and style
         capa_content = re.sub(
@@ -330,7 +319,12 @@ class ProblemBlock(
             "",
             capa_content
         )
-        capa_content = _remove_html_tags_and_extra_spaces(capa_content)
+        capa_content = re.sub(
+            r"(\s|&nbsp;|//)+",
+            " ",
+            Cleaner(tags=[], strip=True).clean(capa_content)
+        )
+
         capa_body = {
             "capa_content": capa_content,
             "display_name": self.display_name,
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py
index 0869fe4513..ac6bf4b465 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_capa_module.py
@@ -2109,6 +2109,7 @@ class ProblemBlockTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
 @ddt.ddt
 class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    maxDiff = None
     sample_checkbox_problem_xml = textwrap.dedent("""
         <problem>
             <p>Title</p>
@@ -2509,7 +2510,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
             'problem_types': ["multiplechoiceresponse"],
             'content': {
                 'display_name': name,
-                'capa_content': 'Label Some comment Apple Banana Chocolate Donut'
+                'capa_content': ' Label Some comment Apple Banana Chocolate Donut '
             }
         })
 
@@ -2536,16 +2537,21 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
         name = "Other Test Capa Problem"
         descriptor = self._create_descriptor(xml, name=name)
         self.assertEqual(descriptor.problem_types, {"multiplechoiceresponse", "optionresponse"})
-        six.assertCountEqual(
-            self,
-            descriptor.index_dictionary(),
-            {
+
+        # We are converting problem_types to a set to compare it later without taking into account the order
+        # the reasoning behind is that the problem_types (property) is represented by dict and when it is converted
+        # to list its ordering is different everytime.
+
+        indexing_result = descriptor.index_dictionary()
+        indexing_result['problem_types'] = set(indexing_result['problem_types'])
+        self.assertDictEqual(
+            indexing_result, {
                 'content_type': ProblemBlock.INDEX_CONTENT_TYPE,
-                'problem_types': ["multiplechoiceresponse", "optionresponse"],
+                'problem_types': set(["optionresponse", "multiplechoiceresponse"]),
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': 'Label Some comment Donut Buggy 1, 2'
-                }
+                    'capa_content': " Label Some comment Donut Buggy '1','2' "
+                },
             }
         )
 
@@ -2581,7 +2587,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': [],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': ''
+                    'capa_content': ' '
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2609,7 +2615,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["choiceresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2621,7 +2627,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
             Dropdown problems allow learners to select only one option from a list of options.
             Description
             You can use the following example problem as a model.
-            Which of the following countries celebrates its independence on August 15? India, Spain, China, Bermuda
+            Which of the following countries celebrates its independence on August 15? 'India','Spain','China','Bermuda'
         """)
         self.assertEqual(descriptor.problem_types, {"optionresponse"})
         self.assertEqual(
@@ -2630,7 +2636,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["optionresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2655,7 +2661,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["multiplechoiceresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2683,7 +2689,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["numericalresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2708,7 +2714,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["stringresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2722,7 +2728,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
         """)
         name = "Non latin Input"
         descriptor = self._create_descriptor(sample_text_input_problem_xml, name=name)
-        capa_content = "FX1_VAL='Καλημέρα' Δοκιμή με μεταβλητές με Ελληνικούς χαρακτήρες μέσα σε python: $FX1_VAL"
+        capa_content = " FX1_VAL='Καλημέρα' Δοκιμή με μεταβλητές με Ελληνικούς χαρακτήρες μέσα σε python: $FX1_VAL "
 
         descriptor_dict = descriptor.index_dictionary()
         self.assertEqual(
@@ -2754,7 +2760,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["choiceresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2780,7 +2786,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["optionresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2806,7 +2812,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["multiplechoiceresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2830,7 +2836,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["numericalresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2854,7 +2860,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': ["stringresponse"],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )
@@ -2886,7 +2892,7 @@ class ProblemBlockXMLTest(unittest.TestCase):
                 'problem_types': [],
                 'content': {
                     'display_name': name,
-                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ").strip()
+                    'capa_content': capa_content.replace("\n", " ")
                 }
             }
         )