diff --git a/lisp/org-datetree.el b/lisp/org-datetree.el
index 192d1d6e6..8c0450772 100644
--- a/lisp/org-datetree.el
+++ b/lisp/org-datetree.el
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ tree can be found."
       (goto-char (prog1 (point) (widen))))))
 
 (defun org-datetree-find-year-create (year)
-  (let ((re "^\\*+[ \t]+\\([12][0-9][0-9][0-9]\\)$")
+  (let ((re "^\\*+[ \t]+\\([12][0-9][0-9][0-9]\\)\\s-*$")
 	match)
     (goto-char (point-min))
     (while (and (setq match (re-search-forward re nil t))