diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.build b/scripts/Makefile.build
index 3e223c264469..7675d11ee65e 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.build
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.build
@@ -332,8 +332,8 @@ cmd_gensymtypes_S =                                                         \
     (echo "\#include <linux/kernel.h>" ;                                    \
      echo "\#include <asm/asm-prototypes.h>" ;                              \
     $(CPP) $(a_flags) $< |                                                  \
-     grep ^___EXPORT_SYMBOL |                                               \
-     sed 's/___EXPORT_SYMBOL \([a-zA-Z0-9_]*\),.*/EXPORT_SYMBOL(\1);/' ) |  \
+     grep "\<___EXPORT_SYMBOL\>" |                                          \
+     sed 's/.*___EXPORT_SYMBOL[[:space:]]*\([a-zA-Z0-9_]*\)[[:space:]]*,.*/EXPORT_SYMBOL(\1);/' ) | \
     $(CPP) -D__GENKSYMS__ $(c_flags) -xc - |                                \
     $(GENKSYMS) $(if $(1), -T $(2))                                         \
      $(patsubst y,-s _,$(CONFIG_HAVE_UNDERSCORE_SYMBOL_PREFIX))             \