diff --git a/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/parse.y b/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/parse.y
index e30926b3..be1a7b53 100644
--- a/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/parse.y
+++ b/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/parse.y
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$OpenBSD: parse.y,v 1.69 2018/07/09 12:05:11 krw Exp $ */
+/*	$OpenBSD: parse.y,v 1.70 2018/11/01 00:18:44 sashan Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2002, 2003, 2004 Henning Brauer <henning@openbsd.org>
@@ -635,7 +635,8 @@ yylex(void)
 			} else if (c == '\\') {
 				if ((next = lgetc(quotec)) == EOF)
 					return (0);
-				if (next == quotec || c == ' ' || c == '\t')
+				if (next == quotec || next == ' ' ||
+				    next == '\t')
 					c = next;
 				else if (next == '\n') {
 					file->lineno++;