diff --git a/addons/mail/static/src/js/composer.js b/addons/mail/static/src/js/composer.js
index 6ffd2bc63c3..4fafe8427eb 100644
--- a/addons/mail/static/src/js/composer.js
+++ b/addons/mail/static/src/js/composer.js
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ var accented_letters_mapping = {
     ' ': '[()\\[\\]]',
 };
 
+var NON_BREAKING_SPACE = '\u00a0';
+
 var MENTION_PARTNER_DELIMITER = '@';
 var MENTION_CHANNEL_DELIMITER = '#';
 
@@ -71,6 +73,8 @@ var MentionManager = Widget.extend({
         var selected_suggestion = _.find(_.flatten(this.get('mention_suggestions')), function (s) {
             return s.id === id;
         });
+        // replace white spaces with non-breaking spaces to facilitate mentions detection in text
+        selected_suggestion.name = selected_suggestion.name.replace(/ /g, NON_BREAKING_SPACE);
         var get_mention_index = function (matches, cursor_position) {
             for (var i=0; i<matches.length; i++) {
                 if (cursor_position <= matches[i].index) {
@@ -121,9 +125,16 @@ var MentionManager = Widget.extend({
         return this.open;
     },
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the mentions of the given listener that haven't been erased from the composer's input
+     */
     get_listener_selection: function (delimiter) {
         var listener = _.findWhere(this.listeners, {delimiter: delimiter});
-        return listener ? listener.selection : [];
+        if (listener) {
+            var input_mentions = this.composer.$input.val().match(new RegExp(delimiter+'[^ ]+', 'g'));
+            return this._validate_selection(listener.selection, input_mentions);
+        }
+        return [];
     },
 
     get_listener_selections: function () {
@@ -199,33 +210,6 @@ var MentionManager = Widget.extend({
         }, this.options.typing_speed);
     },
 
-    /**
-     * Checks if a listener's selection should be updated after DELETE or BACKSPACE keypress
-     */
-    check_remove: function () {
-        var self = this;
-        var to_remove = [];
-        var selection = this._get_selection_positions();
-        var deleted_binf = selection.start;
-        var deleted_bsup = selection.end;
-
-        _.each(this.listeners, function (listener) {
-            var mention_selection = listener.selection;
-            var matches = self._get_match(self.composer.$input.val(), listener);
-            for (var i=0; i<matches.length; i++) {
-                var m = matches[i];
-                var m1 = m.index;
-                var m2 = m.index + m[0].length;
-                if (deleted_binf <= m2 && m1 < deleted_bsup) {
-                    to_remove.push(mention_selection[i]);
-                }
-            }
-            if (to_remove.length) {
-                listener.selection = _.difference(mention_selection, to_remove);
-            }
-        });
-    },
-
     /**
      * Replaces mentions appearing in the string 's' by html links with proper redirection
      */
@@ -242,7 +226,8 @@ var MentionManager = Widget.extend({
                 for (var i=0; i<matches.length; i++) {
                     var match = matches[i];
                     var end_index = match.index + match[0].length;
-                    var match_name = match[0].substring(1);
+                    // put back white spaces instead of non-breaking spaces in mention's name
+                    var match_name = match[0].substring(1).replace(new RegExp(NON_BREAKING_SPACE, 'g'), ' ');
                     var href = base_href + _.str.sprintf("#model=%s&id=%s", listener.model, selection[i].id);
                     var processed_text = _.str.sprintf(mention_link, href, listener.redirect_classname, selection[i].id, listener.model, listener.delimiter, match_name);
                     var subtext = s.substring(start_index, end_index).replace(match[0], processed_text);
@@ -303,6 +288,16 @@ var MentionManager = Widget.extend({
             this.open = false;
         }
     },
+    _validate_selection: function (selection, input_mentions) {
+        var validated_selection = [];
+        _.each(input_mentions, function (mention) {
+            var validated_mention = _.findWhere(selection, {name: mention.slice(1)});
+            if (validated_mention) {
+                validated_selection.push(validated_mention);
+            }
+        });
+        return validated_selection;
+    },
 
     // Cursor position and selection utils
     _get_selection_positions: function () {
@@ -477,11 +472,6 @@ var BasicComposer = Widget.extend({
                     event.preventDefault();
                 }
                 break;
-            // BACKSPACE, DELETE: check if need to remove a mention
-            case $.ui.keyCode.BACKSPACE:
-            case $.ui.keyCode.DELETE:
-                this.mention_manager.check_remove();
-                break;
             // ENTER: submit the message only if the dropdown mention proposition is not displayed
             case $.ui.keyCode.ENTER:
                 if (this.mention_manager.is_open()) {