diff --git a/template/fake.rb.in b/template/fake.rb.in
index 5788af1781..f1da719ecb 100644
--- a/template/fake.rb.in
+++ b/template/fake.rb.in
@@ -45,6 +45,6 @@ eval(File.binread(fake), nil, fake)
 ropt = "-r#{__FILE__}"
 ["RUBYOPT"].each do |flag|
   opt = ENV[flag]
-  opt = opt ? ([ropt] | opt.b.split).join(" ") : ropt
+  opt = opt ? ([ropt] | opt.b.split(/\s+/)).join(" ") : ropt
   ENV[flag] = opt
 end