diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 217df646..96ae090d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Release Notes for CKEditor for Craft CMS
 
+## Unreleased
+
+- Fixed a bug where `&nbps;` briefly appeared below the editor on page load, if the “Show word count” setting was enabled. ([#507](https://github.com/craftcms/ckeditor/issues/507)) 
+
 ## 3.15.0 - 2025-11-19
 
 - Statically-rendered CKEditor fields are now shown in read-only mode. ([#466](https://github.com/craftcms/ckeditor/pull/466))
diff --git a/src/Field.php b/src/Field.php
index 457a70de..da26babb 100644
--- a/src/Field.php
+++ b/src/Field.php
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ private function _inputHtml(mixed $value, ?ElementInterface $element = null, boo
         ]);
 
         if ($this->showWordCount) {
-            $html .= Html::tag('div', '&nbps;', [
+            $html .= Html::tag('div', ' ', [
                 'id' => $wordCountId,
                 'class' => ['ck-word-count', 'light', 'smalltext'],
             ]);