diff --git a/src/configuration/configuration.ts b/src/configuration/configuration.ts
index 457d376c51e..1a118755fef 100644
--- a/src/configuration/configuration.ts
+++ b/src/configuration/configuration.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ class ConfigurationClass {
       }
     }
 
+    // <space> is special, change it to " " internally if it is used as leader
+    if (this.leader.toLowerCase() === "<space>") {
+      this.leader = " ";
+    }
+
     // Get the cursor type from vscode
     const cursorStyleString = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration().get("editor.cursorStyle") as string;
     this.userCursor = this.cursorStyleFromString(cursorStyleString);
diff --git a/src/notation.ts b/src/notation.ts
index dab212869bf..e87792c181c 100644
--- a/src/notation.ts
+++ b/src/notation.ts
@@ -30,12 +30,6 @@ export class AngleBracketNotation {
     }
 
     if (key.toLowerCase() === "<leader>") {
-      // <space> is special, change it to " " internally if it is used
-      if (Configuration.leader.toLowerCase() === "<space>") {
-        Configuration.leader = " ";
-      }
-
-      // Otherwise just return leader from config as-is
       return Configuration.leader;
     }