diff --git a/backend/src/lib/fn/string.ts b/backend/src/lib/fn/string.ts
index 6e8e5560d..61e5a7e20 100644
--- a/backend/src/lib/fn/string.ts
+++ b/backend/src/lib/fn/string.ts
@@ -20,10 +20,16 @@ const vowelRegex = new RE2(/^[aeiou]/i);
 
 export const startsWithVowel = (str: string) => vowelRegex.test(str);
 
+const pickWordsRegex = new RE2(/(\W+)/);
 export const sanitizeString = (dto: { unsanitizedString: string; tokens: string[] }) => {
-  let sanitizedString = dto.unsanitizedString;
-  dto.tokens.filter(Boolean).forEach((el) => {
-    sanitizedString = sanitizedString.replaceAll(el, "[REDACTED]");
+  const words = dto.unsanitizedString.split(pickWordsRegex);
+
+  const redactionSet = new Set(dto.tokens.filter(Boolean));
+  const sanitizedWords = words.map((el) => {
+    if (redactionSet.has(el)) {
+      return "[REDACTED]";
+    }
+    return el;
   });
-  return sanitizedString;
+  return sanitizedWords.join("");
 };