diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/search_query_parser.py b/src/calibre/utils/search_query_parser.py
index 692f949c19..47bc902c1c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/search_query_parser.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/search_query_parser.py
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ class Parser(object):
         # Had to translate named constants to numeric values
         lex_scanner = re.Scanner([
                 (r'[()]',             lambda x,t: (1, t)),
-                (r'[^ "()]+',         lambda x,t: (2, unicode(t))),
+                (r'[^"()\s]+',        lambda x,t: (2, unicode(t))),
                 (r'".*?((?<!\\)")',   lambda x,t: (3, t[1:-1])),
-                (r'\s',               None)
+                (r'\s+',              None)
         ], flags=re.DOTALL)
 
         def token(self, advance=False):