diff --git a/zathura.c b/zathura.c
index 370c589..a74b82a 100644
--- a/zathura.c
+++ b/zathura.c
@@ -1581,7 +1581,7 @@ read_configuration_file(const char* rcfile)
       if(!strlen(lines[i]))
         continue;
 
-      gchar **tokens = g_strsplit(lines[i], " ", -1);
+      gchar **tokens = g_strsplit_set(lines[i], "\t ", -1);
       int     length = g_strv_length(tokens);
 
       if(!strcmp(tokens[0], "set"))