diff --git a/app/models/mail_handler.rb b/app/models/mail_handler.rb
index ea9671ff6..8e19bcdf4 100644
--- a/app/models/mail_handler.rb
+++ b/app/models/mail_handler.rb
@@ -203,10 +203,17 @@ class MailHandler < ActionMailer::Base
   end
   
   def get_keyword(attr, options={})
-    if (options[:override] || @@handler_options[:allow_override].include?(attr.to_s)) && plain_text_body =~ /^#{attr}:[ \t]*(.+)$/i
-      $1.strip
-    elsif !@@handler_options[:issue][attr].blank?
-      @@handler_options[:issue][attr]
+    @keywords ||= {}
+    if @keywords.has_key?(attr)
+      @keywords[attr]
+    else
+      @keywords[attr] = begin
+        if (options[:override] || @@handler_options[:allow_override].include?(attr.to_s)) && plain_text_body.gsub!(/^#{attr}:[ \t]*(.+)\s*$/i, '')
+          $1.strip
+        elsif !@@handler_options[:issue][attr].blank?
+          @@handler_options[:issue][attr]
+        end
+      end
     end
   end
   
diff --git a/test/unit/mail_handler_test.rb b/test/unit/mail_handler_test.rb
index 678ba520f..4ec9684a0 100644
--- a/test/unit/mail_handler_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/mail_handler_test.rb
@@ -49,7 +49,11 @@ class MailHandlerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal 'New ticket on a given project', issue.subject
     assert_equal User.find_by_login('jsmith'), issue.author
     assert_equal Project.find(2), issue.project
+    assert_equal IssueStatus.find_by_name('Resolved'), issue.status
     assert issue.description.include?('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.')
+    # keywords should be removed from the email body
+    assert !issue.description.match(/^Project:/i)
+    assert !issue.description.match(/^Status:/i)
   end
 
   def test_add_issue_with_status
@@ -113,6 +117,7 @@ class MailHandlerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     issue.reload
     assert_equal 'New ticket with custom field values', issue.subject
     assert_equal 'Value for a custom field', issue.custom_value_for(CustomField.find_by_name('Searchable field')).value
+    assert !issue.description.match(/^searchable field:/i)
   end
   
   def test_add_issue_with_cc