diff --git a/rc/filetype/makefile.kak b/rc/filetype/makefile.kak
index fcc51ac8..452f6446 100644
--- a/rc/filetype/makefile.kak
+++ b/rc/filetype/makefile.kak
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ define-command -hidden makefile-indent-on-new-line %{
         # preserve previous line indent
         try %{ execute-keys -draft \;K<a-&> }
         ## If the line above is a target indent with a tab
-        try %{ execute-keys -draft Z k<a-x> <a-k>^[^\t].*?(::|:|!)<ret> z i<tab> }
+        try %{ execute-keys -draft Z k<a-x> <a-k>^\S.*?(::|:|!)<ret> z i<tab> }
         # cleanup trailing white space son previous line
         try %{ execute-keys -draft k<a-x> s \h+$ <ret>d }
         # indent after some keywords