diff --git a/lib/cmock_header_parser.rb b/lib/cmock_header_parser.rb
index 55466e9..eb36f2e 100644
--- a/lib/cmock_header_parser.rb
+++ b/lib/cmock_header_parser.rb
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class CMockHeaderParser
 
     # remove preprocessor statements and extern "C"
     source.gsub!(/^\s*#.*/, '')
-    source.gsub!(/extern\s+\"C\"\s+\{/, '')
+    source.gsub!(/extern\s+\"C\"\s*\{/, '')
 
     # enums, unions, structs, and typedefs can all contain things (e.g. function pointers) that parse like function prototypes, so yank them
     # forward declared structs are removed before struct definitions so they don't mess up real thing later. we leave structs keywords in function prototypes