diff --git a/lib/damask/environment.py b/lib/damask/environment.py
index d301a5498..fedc22e36 100644
--- a/lib/damask/environment.py
+++ b/lib/damask/environment.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class Environment():
       for line in configFile:
         l = re.sub('^set ', '', line).strip()                                                       # remove "set" (tcsh) when setting variables
         if l and not l.startswith('#'):
-          items = map(string.strip,l.split('='))
+          items = re.split(r'\s*=\s*',l)
           if len(items) == 2: 
             self.options[items[0].upper()] = \
               re.sub('\$\{*DAMASK_ROOT\}*',self.rootDir(),os.path.expandvars(items[1]))             # expand all shell variables and DAMASK_ROOT