diff --git a/mopidy/frontends/mpd/protocol/empty.py b/mopidy/frontends/mpd/protocol/empty.py
index 33b3bd9f..4cdafd87 100644
--- a/mopidy/frontends/mpd/protocol/empty.py
+++ b/mopidy/frontends/mpd/protocol/empty.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from mopidy.frontends.mpd.protocol import handle_request
 
-@handle_request(r'^\s*$')
+@handle_request(r'^[ ]*$')
 def empty(context):
     """The original MPD server returns ``OK`` on an empty request."""
     pass