diff --git a/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/Smali.java b/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/Smali.java
index 1c7d1584..855092ac 100644
--- a/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/Smali.java
+++ b/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/Smali.java
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ public class Smali {
             fis = new FileInputStream(smaliFile);
             InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(fis, "UTF-8");
 
-            LexerErrorInterface lexer = new smaliFlexLexer(reader);
+            LexerErrorInterface lexer = new smaliFlexLexer(reader, options.apiLevel);
             ((smaliFlexLexer)lexer).setSourceFile(smaliFile);
             CommonTokenStream tokens = new CommonTokenStream((TokenSource)lexer);
 
diff --git a/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/SmaliTestUtils.java b/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/SmaliTestUtils.java
index 8b1d34a1..4aaecd96 100644
--- a/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/SmaliTestUtils.java
+++ b/smali/src/main/java/org/jf/smali/SmaliTestUtils.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public class SmaliTestUtils {
 
         Reader reader = new StringReader(smaliText);
 
-        lexer = new smaliFlexLexer(reader);
+        lexer = new smaliFlexLexer(reader, apiLevel);
         tokens = new CommonTokenStream((TokenSource)lexer);
 
         smaliParser parser = new smaliParser(tokens);
diff --git a/smali/src/main/jflex/smaliLexer.jflex b/smali/src/main/jflex/smaliLexer.jflex
index 4d0b5456..7b19d3dc 100644
--- a/smali/src/main/jflex/smaliLexer.jflex
+++ b/smali/src/main/jflex/smaliLexer.jflex
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ import static org.jf.smali.smaliParser.*;
 %column
 %char
 
+%ctorarg int apiLevel
+%init{
+    this.apiLevel = apiLevel;
+%init}
+
 %{
     private StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
     private String stringOrCharError = null;
@@ -31,6 +36,8 @@ import static org.jf.smali.smaliParser.*;
 
     private boolean suppressErrors;
 
+    private int apiLevel;
+
     public Token nextToken() {
         try {
             Token token = yylex();
@@ -129,6 +136,13 @@ import static org.jf.smali.smaliParser.*;
         return invalidToken(message, yytext());
     }
 
+    private Token simpleNameToken(String text, boolean quoted) {
+        if (quoted) {
+          text = text.substring(1, text.length() - 1); /* strip backticks */
+        }
+        return newToken(SIMPLE_NAME, text);
+    }
+
     private void beginStringOrChar(int state) {
         yybegin(state);
         sb.setLength(0);
@@ -228,8 +242,9 @@ SimpleNameCharacter = ({HighSurrogate} {LowSurrogate}) | [A-Za-z0-9$\-_\u00a1-\u
 UnicodeSpace = [\u0020\u00A0\u1680\u2000-\u200A\u202F\u205F\u3000] /* Zs category */
 
 SimpleNameRaw = {SimpleNameCharacter}+
-SimpleNameQuoted = [`] ({SimpleNameCharacter} | {UnicodeSpace})+ [`]
-SimpleName = {SimpleNameRaw} | {SimpleNameQuoted}
+SimpleNameQuoted = [`] {SimpleNameCharacter}+ [`]
+SimpleNameQuotedWithSpaces = [`] ({SimpleNameCharacter} | {UnicodeSpace})+ [`]
+SimpleName = {SimpleNameRaw} | {SimpleNameQuoted} | {SimpleNameQuotedWithSpaces}
 
 PrimitiveType = [ZBSCIJFD]
 
@@ -685,11 +700,14 @@ Type = {PrimitiveType} | {ClassDescriptor} | {ArrayPrefix} ({ClassDescriptor} |
         yybegin(PARAM_LIST);
     }
 
-    {SimpleNameRaw} { return newToken(SIMPLE_NAME); }
-    {SimpleNameQuoted} {
-        String quoted = yytext();
-        String raw = quoted.substring(1, quoted.length() - 1); /* strip backticks */
-        return newToken(SIMPLE_NAME, raw);
+    {SimpleNameRaw} { return simpleNameToken(yytext(), false); }
+    {SimpleNameQuoted} { return simpleNameToken(yytext(), true); }
+    {SimpleNameQuotedWithSpaces} {
+      if (apiLevel < 30) {
+        String message = "spaces in SimpleName are not allowed prior to API level 30";
+        return new InvalidToken(message, yytext());
+      }
+      return simpleNameToken(yytext(), true);
     }
     "<" {SimpleNameRaw} ">" { return newToken(MEMBER_NAME); }
 }
diff --git a/smali/src/test/java/org/jf/smali/LexerTest.java b/smali/src/test/java/org/jf/smali/LexerTest.java
index 5f1f21e4..bb886c9b 100644
--- a/smali/src/test/java/org/jf/smali/LexerTest.java
+++ b/smali/src/test/java/org/jf/smali/LexerTest.java
@@ -158,7 +158,8 @@ public class LexerTest {
         if (smaliStream == null) {
             Assert.fail("Could not load " + smaliFile);
         }
-        smaliFlexLexer lexer = new smaliFlexLexer(new InputStreamReader(smaliStream));
+        smaliFlexLexer lexer = new smaliFlexLexer(new InputStreamReader(smaliStream),
+            10000 /* most recent API level */);
         lexer.setSourceFile(new File(test + ".smali"));
         lexer.setSuppressErrors(true);
 
diff --git a/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.smali b/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.smali
index 2c0a6374..bde031ba 100644
--- a/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.smali
+++ b/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.smali
@@ -55,4 +55,5 @@ III
 
 [I->clone()Ljava/lang/Object;
 
-`method_with_spaces_20 a0 1680 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 200a 202f 205f 3000　`
+`simple_name_in_backticks`
+`simple_name_with_spaces_20 a0 1680 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 200a 202f 205f 3000　`
diff --git a/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.tokens b/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.tokens
index 1652ab98..f53e0800 100644
--- a/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.tokens
+++ b/smali/src/test/resources/LexerTest/TypeAndIdentifierTest.tokens
@@ -109,4 +109,5 @@ OPEN_PAREN("(")
 CLOSE_PAREN(")")
 CLASS_DESCRIPTOR("Ljava/lang/Object;")
 
-SIMPLE_NAME("method_with_spaces_20 a0 1680 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 200a 202f 205f 3000　")
+SIMPLE_NAME("simple_name_in_backticks")
+SIMPLE_NAME("simple_name_with_spaces_20 a0 1680 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 200a 202f 205f 3000　")