diff --git a/pkg/parser/parser.go b/pkg/parser/parser.go
index e6113d86..c0beb8f2 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/parser.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/parser.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ var (
 	sepRegex       = regexp.MustCompile(`^\s*---+\s*$`)
 	endHeaderRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^\s*===+\s*$`)
 	strictSepRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^---\n$`)
-	skipRegex      = regexp.MustCompile(`^![-.:*\w]+\s*$`)
+	skipRegex      = regexp.MustCompile(`^![ -.:*\w]+\s*$`)
 	nameRegex      = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z]+$`)
 )
 
diff --git a/pkg/parser/parser_test.go b/pkg/parser/parser_test.go
index 6eab45c9..7e1282ca 100644
--- a/pkg/parser/parser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/parser/parser_test.go
@@ -242,6 +242,23 @@ share output filters: shared
 	}}).Equal(t, out)
 }
 
+func TestParseMetaDataSpace(t *testing.T) {
+	input := `
+name: a space
+body
+---
+!metadata:a space:other
+foo bar
+`
+	tools, err := ParseTools(strings.NewReader(input))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.Len(t, tools, 1)
+	autogold.Expect(map[string]string{
+		"other": "foo bar",
+	}).Equal(t, tools[0].MetaData)
+}
+
 func TestParseMetaData(t *testing.T) {
 	input := `
 name: first