diff --git a/test/maple_test/compare.py b/test/maple_test/compare.py
index 3ac77e75801eaf9d12482cee352f1311f52b2354..6e35f1df980d2cf5b722ab4ee5a36c474caaf7f1 100644
--- a/test/maple_test/compare.py
+++ b/test/maple_test/compare.py
@@ -172,7 +172,6 @@ def is_valid_pattern(pattern):
 
 
 def regex_match(content, line_map, pattern, start=0):
-    pattern = r"\s+".join([word for word in pattern.split()])
     if not is_valid_pattern(pattern):
         raise CompareError("Not valid pattern: {!r}".format(pattern))
     matches = re.finditer(str(pattern), content, re.MULTILINE)