diff --git a/userdiff.c b/userdiff.c
index 6321103ce2..dbfb4e13cd 100644
--- a/userdiff.c
+++ b/userdiff.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ IPATTERN("fortran",
 	 "|//|\\*\\*|::|[/<>=]="),
 IPATTERN("fountain", "^((\\.[^.]|(int|ext|est|int\\.?/ext|i/e)[. ]).*)$",
 	 "[^ \t-]+"),
-PATTERNS("html", "^[ \t]*(<[Hh][1-6][ \t].*>.*)$",
+PATTERNS("html", "^[ \t]*(<[Hh][1-6]([ \t].*)?>.*)$",
 	 "[^<>= \t]+"),
 PATTERNS("java",
 	 "!^[ \t]*(catch|do|for|if|instanceof|new|return|switch|throw|while)\n"