The change is needed because Asciidoc.py and Asciidoctor do not process the '+' verbatim the same way. A span is detected when the format sign (here '+')is preceded by a non-word character. I haven't digged into the source, but it seems that '{nbsp}' is considered a non-word sign by Asciidoc.py, but not by Asciidoctor. Using the double '+' opens 'unconstrained' span, independent on the preceding character in both engines.