diff --git a/runtime/ftplugin/spec.vim b/runtime/ftplugin/spec.vim
index 2a961f8..2b33bc8 100644
--- a/runtime/ftplugin/spec.vim
+++ b/runtime/ftplugin/spec.vim
@@ -183,12 +183,10 @@
 		endif
 		let varname = strpart(a:str, start+2, end-(start+2))
 		execute a:strline
-		let definestr = "^[ \t]*%(?:global|define)[ \t]\\+" . varname . "[ \t]\\+\\(.*\\)$"
+		let definestr = "^[ \t]*%\\(define\\|global\\)[ \t]\\+".varname."[ \t]\\+\\(.*\\)$"
 		let linenum = search(definestr, "bW")
-		if (linenum != -1)
-			let ret = ret .  substitute(getline(linenum), definestr, "\\1", "")
-		else
-			let ret = ret . strpart(str, start, end+1-start)
+		if (linenum != 0)
+			let ret = ret .  substitute(getline(linenum), definestr, "\\2", "")
 		endif
 	endwhile
 	return ret