diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
index f1b6f8af..d280202e 100755
--- a/release.sh
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 function set_version {
 	echo -n "Replacing version in source files to $1"
 	for fl in $(find . -iname "*.py"); do
-		sed "s/\(VERSION\|version\|release\) *= *[\"'][0-9]\+\..\+[\"']\(,\?\)$/\1 = '$1'\2/g" $fl > $fl.new
+        sed "s/\(VERSION\|version\|release\)\( *\)=\( *\)[\"'][0-9]\+\..\+[\"']\(,\?\)$/\1\2=\3'$1'\4/g" $fl > $fl.new
 		diff $fl.new $fl >/dev/null && echo -n "." || echo -n "+"
 		cp -f $fl.new $fl
 		rm -f $fl.new