diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 5ffc940399be..92d13710ff52 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -1658,7 +1658,7 @@ sub process {
 
 # * goes on variable not on type
 		# (char*[ const])
-		if ($line =~ m{\($NonptrType(\s*\*[\s\*]*(?:$Modifier\s*)*)\)}) {
+		if ($line =~ m{\($NonptrType(\s*(?:$Modifier\b\s*|\*\s*)+)\)}) {
 			my ($from, $to) = ($1, $1);
 
 			# Should start with a space.
@@ -1673,7 +1673,7 @@ sub process {
 			if ($from ne $to) {
 				ERROR("\"(foo$from)\" should be \"(foo$to)\"\n" .  $herecurr);
 			}
-		} elsif ($line =~ m{\b$NonptrType(\s*\*[\s\*]*(?:$Modifier\s*)?)($Ident)}) {
+		} elsif ($line =~ m{\b$NonptrType(\s*(?:$Modifier\b\s*|\*\s*)+)($Ident)}) {
 			my ($from, $to, $ident) = ($1, $1, $2);
 
 			# Should start with a space.