diff --git a/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd b/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd
index aef20c5b70b2..638e227e3ac5 100755
--- a/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd
+++ b/etc/periodic/daily/200.backup-passwd
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ case "$daily_backup_passwd_enable" in
 		[ $rc -lt 1 ] && rc=1
 		echo "$host passwd diffs:"
 		diff -uI '^#' $bak/master.passwd.bak /etc/master.passwd |\
-			sed 's/^\([-+][^-+:]*\):[^:]*:/\1:(password):/'
+			sed 's/^\([-+ ][^-+:]*\):[^:]*:/\1:(password):/'
 		mv $bak/master.passwd.bak $bak/master.passwd.bak2
 		cp -p /etc/master.passwd $bak/master.passwd.bak || rc=3
 	    fi