diff --git a/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js b/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
index 0740bb6ef1..bdf4adefae 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
+++ b/src/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ( function() {
 	function WordCounter( settings ) {
-		var key;
+		var key,
+			shortcodes;
 
 		if ( settings ) {
 			for ( key in settings ) {
@@ -9,6 +10,12 @@
 				}
 			}
 		}
+
+		shortcodes = this.settings.l10n.shortcodes;
+
+		if ( shortcodes && shortcodes.length ) {
+			this.settings.shortcodesRegExp = new RegExp( '\\[\\/?(?:' + shortcodes.join( '|' ) + ')[^\\]]*?\\]', 'gi' );
+		}
 	}
 
 	WordCounter.prototype.settings = {
@@ -65,6 +72,11 @@
 			text = text + '\n';
 
 			text = text.replace( this.settings.HTMLRegExp, '\n' );
+
+			if ( this.settings.shortcodesRegExp ) {
+				text = text.replace( this.settings.shortcodesRegExp, '\n' );
+			}
+
 			text = text.replace( this.settings.spaceRegExp, ' ' );
 
 			if ( type === 'words' ) {
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/script-loader.php b/src/wp-includes/script-loader.php
index 1c45846f2d..e95d075cbe 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/script-loader.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/script-loader.php
@@ -400,7 +400,8 @@ function wp_default_scripts( &$scripts ) {
 		/* translators: If your word count is based on single characters (East Asian characters),
 		   enter 'characters', or 'all' to include spaces. Otherwise, enter 'words'.
 		   Do not translate into your own language. */
-		'type' => _x( 'words', 'word count: words, characters or all?' )
+		'type' => _x( 'words', 'word count: words, characters or all?' ),
+		'shortcodes' => ! empty( $GLOBALS['shortcode_tags'] ) ? array_keys( $GLOBALS['shortcode_tags'] ) : array()
 	) );
 
 	$scripts->add( 'media-upload', "/wp-admin/js/media-upload$suffix.js", array( 'thickbox', 'shortcode' ), false, 1 );
diff --git a/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js b/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
index c3c147d913..ad69453e49 100644
--- a/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
+++ b/tests/qunit/wp-admin/js/word-count.js
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@
 				words: 3,
 				characters: 14,
 				all: 14
+			},
+			{
+				message: 'Shortcodes.',
+				string: 'one [shortcode attribute="value"]two[/shortcode]three',
+				words: 3,
+				characters: 11,
+				all: 12
 			}
 		], function( test ) {
 			_.each( [ 'words', 'characters', 'all' ], function( type ) {
@@ -51,4 +58,8 @@
 			} );
 		} );
 	} );
-} )( window.QUnit, new window.wp.utils.WordCounter() );
+} )( window.QUnit, new window.wp.utils.WordCounter( {
+	l10n: {
+		shortcodes: [ 'shortcode' ]
+	}
+} ) );