diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index de378c91af76..63b4dc2dad6d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 - _Upgrade (experimental)_: Migrate `plugins` with options to CSS ([#14700](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/14700))
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Allow spaces spaces around operators in attribute selector variants ([#14703](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/14703))
+
 ### Changed
 
 - _Upgrade (experimental)_: Don't create `@source` rules for `content` paths that are already covered by automatic source detection ([#14714](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/14714))
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.test.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.test.ts
index f43945f890fd..97e358ef0117 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.test.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.test.ts
@@ -1985,6 +1985,7 @@ test('aria', async () => {
       'aria-checked:flex',
       'aria-[invalid=spelling]:flex',
       'aria-[valuenow=1]:flex',
+      'aria-[valuenow_=_"1"]:flex',
 
       'group-aria-[modal]:flex',
       'group-aria-checked:flex',
@@ -2059,6 +2060,10 @@ test('aria', async () => {
 
     .aria-\\[valuenow\\=1\\]\\:flex[aria-valuenow="1"] {
       display: flex;
+    }
+
+    .aria-\\[valuenow_\\=_\\"1\\"\\]\\:flex[aria-valuenow="1"] {
+      display: flex;
     }"
   `)
   expect(await run(['aria-checked/foo:flex', 'aria-[invalid=spelling]/foo:flex'])).toEqual('')
@@ -2069,6 +2074,9 @@ test('data', async () => {
     await run([
       'data-disabled:flex',
       'data-[potato=salad]:flex',
+      'data-[potato_=_"salad"]:flex',
+      'data-[potato_^=_"salad"]:flex',
+      'data-[potato="^_="]:flex',
       'data-[foo=1]:flex',
       'data-[foo=bar_baz]:flex',
       "data-[foo$='bar'_i]:flex",
@@ -2155,6 +2163,18 @@ test('data', async () => {
       display: flex;
     }
 
+    .data-\\[potato_\\=_\\"salad\\"\\]\\:flex[data-potato="salad"] {
+      display: flex;
+    }
+
+    .data-\\[potato_\\^\\=_\\"salad\\"\\]\\:flex[data-potato^="salad"] {
+      display: flex;
+    }
+
+    .data-\\[potato\\=\\"\\^_\\=\\"\\]\\:flex[data-potato="^ ="] {
+      display: flex;
+    }
+
     .data-\\[foo\\=1\\]\\:flex[data-foo="1"] {
       display: flex;
     }
@@ -2171,7 +2191,13 @@ test('data', async () => {
       display: flex;
     }"
   `)
-  expect(await run(['data-disabled/foo:flex', 'data-[potato=salad]/foo:flex'])).toEqual('')
+  expect(
+    await run([
+      'data-[foo_^_=_"bar"]:flex', // Can't have spaces between `^` and `=`
+      'data-disabled/foo:flex',
+      'data-[potato=salad]/foo:flex',
+    ]),
+  ).toEqual('')
 })
 
 test('portrait', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.ts
index 693222860020..4999439e6a7a 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/variants.ts
@@ -898,32 +898,34 @@ export function createVariants(theme: Theme): Variants {
   return variants
 }
 
-function quoteAttributeValue(value: string) {
-  if (value.includes('=')) {
-    value = value.replace(/(=.*)/g, (_fullMatch, match) => {
-      // If the value is already quoted, skip.
-      if (match[1] === "'" || match[1] === '"') {
-        return match
-      }
+function quoteAttributeValue(input: string) {
+  if (input.includes('=')) {
+    let [attribute, ...after] = segment(input, '=')
+    let value = after.join('=').trim()
+
+    // If the value is already quoted, skip.
+    if (value[0] === "'" || value[0] === '"') {
+      return input
+    }
 
-      // Handle regex flags on unescaped values
-      if (match.length > 2) {
-        let trailingCharacter = match[match.length - 1]
-        if (
-          match[match.length - 2] === ' ' &&
-          (trailingCharacter === 'i' ||
-            trailingCharacter === 'I' ||
-            trailingCharacter === 's' ||
-            trailingCharacter === 'S')
-        ) {
-          return `="${match.slice(1, -2)}" ${match[match.length - 1]}`
-        }
+    // Handle case sensitivity flags on unescaped values
+    if (value.length > 1) {
+      let trailingCharacter = value[value.length - 1]
+      if (
+        value[value.length - 2] === ' ' &&
+        (trailingCharacter === 'i' ||
+          trailingCharacter === 'I' ||
+          trailingCharacter === 's' ||
+          trailingCharacter === 'S')
+      ) {
+        return `${attribute}="${value.slice(0, -2)}" ${trailingCharacter}`
       }
+    }
 
-      return `="${match.slice(1)}"`
-    })
+    return `${attribute}="${value}"`
   }
-  return value
+
+  return input
 }
 
 export function substituteAtSlot(ast: AstNode[], nodes: AstNode[]) {