diff --git a/Lib/test/test_traceback.py b/Lib/test/test_traceback.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_traceback.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_traceback.py
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@
     def syntax_error_bad_indentation(self):
         compile("def spam():\n  print(1)\n print(2)", "?", "exec")
 
+    def syntax_error_bad_indentation2(self):
+        compile(" print(2)", "?", "exec")
+
     def test_caret(self):
         err = self.get_exception_format(self.syntax_error_with_caret,
                                         SyntaxError)
@@ -43,8 +46,8 @@
         err = self.get_exception_format(self.syntax_error_with_caret_2,
                                         SyntaxError)
         self.assertIn("^", err[2]) # third line has caret
-        self.assertTrue(err[2].count('\n') == 1) # and no additional newline
-        self.assertTrue(err[1].find("+") == err[2].find("^")) # in the right place
+        self.assertEqual(err[2].count('\n'), 1) # and no additional newline
+        self.assertEqual(err[1].find("+"), err[2].find("^")) # in the right place
 
     def test_nocaret(self):
         exc = SyntaxError("error", ("x.py", 23, None, "bad syntax"))
@@ -60,6 +63,13 @@
         self.assertIn("^", err[2])
         self.assertEqual(err[1].find(")"), err[2].find("^"))
 
+        err = self.get_exception_format(self.syntax_error_bad_indentation2,
+                                        IndentationError)
+        self.assertEqual(len(err), 4)
+        self.assertEqual(err[1].strip(), "print(2)")
+        self.assertIn("^", err[2])
+        self.assertEqual(err[1].find("p"), err[2].find("^"))
+
     def test_base_exception(self):
         # Test that exceptions derived from BaseException are formatted right
         e = KeyboardInterrupt()
diff --git a/Lib/traceback.py b/Lib/traceback.py
--- a/Lib/traceback.py
+++ b/Lib/traceback.py
@@ -226,11 +226,12 @@
     if badline is not None:
         lines.append('    %s\n' % badline.strip())
         if offset is not None:
-            caretspace = badline.rstrip('\n')[:offset].lstrip()
+            caretspace = badline.rstrip('\n')
+            offset = min(len(caretspace), offset) - 1
+            caretspace = caretspace[:offset].lstrip()
             # non-space whitespace (likes tabs) must be kept for alignment
             caretspace = ((c.isspace() and c or ' ') for c in caretspace)
-            # only three spaces to account for offset1 == pos 0
-            lines.append('   %s^\n' % ''.join(caretspace))
+            lines.append('    %s^\n' % ''.join(caretspace))
     msg = value.msg or "<no detail available>"
     lines.append("%s: %s\n" % (stype, msg))
     return lines