diff --git a/core/core.el b/core/core.el
index 293462cb3..b488e48a1 100644
--- a/core/core.el
+++ b/core/core.el
@@ -421,9 +421,9 @@ in interactive sessions, nil otherwise (but logs a warning)."
     (let (vars)
       (with-temp-buffer
         (insert-file-contents file)
-        (while (re-search-forward "\n *[^#] *\\([^= \n]+\\)=" nil t)
+        (while (re-search-forward "\n *\\([^#][^= \n]+\\)=" nil t)
           (save-excursion
-            (let ((var (match-string 1))
+            (let ((var (string-trim-left (match-string 1)))
                   (value (buffer-substring-no-properties
                           (point)
                           (1- (or (when (re-search-forward "^\\([^= ]+\\)=" nil t)