diff --git a/htmlChecks.sh b/htmlChecks.sh
index 4f347595e..edbd7e559 100755
--- a/htmlChecks.sh
+++ b/htmlChecks.sh
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ if [ ${#INCLUDE_FILES[@]} != 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 echo "Checking for unexpanded substitution errors in output ..."
-INCLUDE_FILES=( $(grep -rl --include="*.html" ' |\S*| ' .) )
+INCLUDE_FILES=( $(grep -rl --include="*.html" ' |\S\+| ' .) )
 if [ ${#INCLUDE_FILES[@]} != 0 ]; then
     echo -e "Found ${#INCLUDE_FILES[@]} HTML file(s) that may have unexpanded substitution(s):\n${RED}"
-    grep -r --include="*.html" ' |\S*| ' . | awk -F: '{if(f!=$1)print ""; f=$1; print $0;}'
+    grep -r --include="*.html" ' |\S\+| ' . | awk -F: '{if(f!=$1)print ""; f=$1; print $0;}'
     echo -e "${NC}\nCorrect the issue(s) in the corresponding rST file(s).\nHINT: Substitions are not allowed in code blocks, :ref:s,\n:doc:s, or within rST markup such as **, \`\`, and so on."
     error=1
 fi