diff --git a/src/pkg/go/ast/ast.go b/src/pkg/go/ast/ast.go
index 7123fe58f50..d2e75dc1c03 100644
--- a/src/pkg/go/ast/ast.go
+++ b/src/pkg/go/ast/ast.go
@@ -87,8 +87,12 @@ func stripTrailingWhitespace(s string) string {
 	return s[0:i]
 }
 
-// Text returns the text of the comment,
-// with the comment markers - //, /*, and */ - removed.
+// Text returns the text of the comment.
+// Comment markers (//, /*, and */), the first space of a line comment, and
+// leading and trailing empty lines are removed. Multiple empty lines are
+// reduced to one, and trailing space on lines is trimmed. Unless the result
+// is empty, it is newline-terminated.
+//
 func (g *CommentGroup) Text() string {
 	if g == nil {
 		return ""
@@ -104,11 +108,9 @@ func (g *CommentGroup) Text() string {
 		// The parser has given us exactly the comment text.
 		switch c[1] {
 		case '/':
-			//-style comment
+			//-style comment (no newline at the end)
 			c = c[2:]
-			// Remove leading space after //, if there is one.
-			// TODO(gri) This appears to be necessary in isolated
-			//           cases (bignum.RatFromString) - why?
+			// strip first space - required for Example tests
 			if len(c) > 0 && c[0] == ' ' {
 				c = c[1:]
 			}
diff --git a/src/pkg/go/ast/ast_test.go b/src/pkg/go/ast/ast_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1a6a283f232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pkg/go/ast/ast_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+// Copyright 2012 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package ast
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+var comments = []struct {
+	list []string
+	text string
+}{
+	{[]string{"//"}, ""},
+	{[]string{"//   "}, ""},
+	{[]string{"//", "//", "//   "}, ""},
+	{[]string{"// foo   "}, "foo\n"},
+	{[]string{"//", "//", "// foo"}, "foo\n"},
+	{[]string{"// foo  bar  "}, "foo  bar\n"},
+	{[]string{"// foo", "// bar"}, "foo\nbar\n"},
+	{[]string{"// foo", "//", "//", "//", "// bar"}, "foo\n\nbar\n"},
+	{[]string{"// foo", "/* bar */"}, "foo\n bar\n"},
+	{[]string{"//", "//", "//", "// foo", "//", "//", "//"}, "foo\n"},
+
+	{[]string{"/**/"}, ""},
+	{[]string{"/*   */"}, ""},
+	{[]string{"/**/", "/**/", "/*   */"}, ""},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo   */"}, " Foo\n"},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo  Bar  */"}, " Foo  Bar\n"},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo*/", "/* Bar*/"}, " Foo\n Bar\n"},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo*/", "/**/", "/**/", "/**/", "// Bar"}, " Foo\n\nBar\n"},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo*/", "/*\n*/", "//", "/*\n*/", "// Bar"}, " Foo\n\nBar\n"},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo*/", "// Bar"}, " Foo\nBar\n"},
+	{[]string{"/* Foo\n Bar*/"}, " Foo\n Bar\n"},
+}
+
+func TestCommentText(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, c := range comments {
+		list := make([]*Comment, len(c.list))
+		for i, s := range c.list {
+			list[i] = &Comment{Text: s}
+		}
+
+		text := (&CommentGroup{list}).Text()
+		if text != c.text {
+			t.Errorf("case %d: got %q; expected %q", i, text, c.text)
+		}
+	}
+}