diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index 12ced2888..e60d8777f 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ sub format_2822_time {
 my %parse_alias = (
 	# multiline formats can be supported in the future
 	mutt => sub { my $fh = shift; while (<$fh>) {
-		if (/^alias\s+(\S+)\s+(.*)$/) {
+		if (/^\s*alias\s+(\S+)\s+(.*)$/) {
 			my ($alias, $addr) = ($1, $2);
 			$addr =~ s/#.*$//; # mutt allows # comments
 			 # commas delimit multiple addresses