diff --git a/x11-plugins/wmpop3lb/wmpop3lb-2.4.2-r3.ebuild b/x11-plugins/wmpop3lb/wmpop3lb-2.4.2-r3.ebuild
index 8b443af7ff281..ddfd4a33a32dc 100644
--- a/x11-plugins/wmpop3lb/wmpop3lb-2.4.2-r3.ebuild
+++ b/x11-plugins/wmpop3lb/wmpop3lb-2.4.2-r3.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2020 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2022 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=7
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ src_prepare() {
 	sed -i -e "s|-g2 -D_DEBUG|${CFLAGS}|" "wmpop3/Makefile" || die
 
 	#De-hardcode compiler
-	sed -i -e "s|cc|\$(CC)|g" "wmpop3/Makefile" || die
+	sed -i -e "s|\tcc |\t\$(CC) |g" "wmpop3/Makefile" || die
 
 	#Honour Gentoo LDFLAGS - bug #335986
 	sed -i -e "s|\$(FLAGS) -o wmpop3lb|\$(LDFLAGS) -o wmpop3lb|" "wmpop3/Makefile" || die