diff --git a/src/urlMatcherFactory.js b/src/urlMatcherFactory.js
index 07c05bff9..8458a3e27 100644
--- a/src/urlMatcherFactory.js
+++ b/src/urlMatcherFactory.js
@@ -76,13 +76,13 @@ function UrlMatcher(pattern, config, parentMatcher) {
   // The regular expression is somewhat complicated due to the need to allow curly braces
   // inside the regular expression. The placeholder regexp breaks down as follows:
   //    ([:*])([\w\[\]]+)              - classic placeholder ($1 / $2) (search version has - for snake-case)
-  //    \{([\w\[\]]+)(?:\:( ... ))?\}  - curly brace placeholder ($3) with optional regexp/type ... ($4) (search version has - for snake-case
+  //    \{([\w\[\]]+)(?:\:\s*( ... ))?\}  - curly brace placeholder ($3) with optional regexp/type ... ($4) (search version has - for snake-case
   //    (?: ... | ... | ... )+         - the regexp consists of any number of atoms, an atom being either
   //    [^{}\\]+                       - anything other than curly braces or backslash
   //    \\.                            - a backslash escape
   //    \{(?:[^{}\\]+|\\.)*\}          - a matched set of curly braces containing other atoms
-  var placeholder       = /([:*])([\w\[\]]+)|\{([\w\[\]]+)(?:\:((?:[^{}\\]+|\\.|\{(?:[^{}\\]+|\\.)*\})+))?\}/g,
-      searchPlaceholder = /([:]?)([\w\[\]-]+)|\{([\w\[\]-]+)(?:\:((?:[^{}\\]+|\\.|\{(?:[^{}\\]+|\\.)*\})+))?\}/g,
+  var placeholder       = /([:*])([\w\[\]]+)|\{([\w\[\]]+)(?:\:\s*((?:[^{}\\]+|\\.|\{(?:[^{}\\]+|\\.)*\})+))?\}/g,
+      searchPlaceholder = /([:]?)([\w\[\]-]+)|\{([\w\[\]-]+)(?:\:\s*((?:[^{}\\]+|\\.|\{(?:[^{}\\]+|\\.)*\})+))?\}/g,
       compiled = '^', last = 0, m,
       segments = this.segments = [],
       parentParams = parentMatcher ? parentMatcher.params : {},
diff --git a/test/urlMatcherFactorySpec.js b/test/urlMatcherFactorySpec.js
index 38b694ac4..755c54d2f 100755
--- a/test/urlMatcherFactorySpec.js
+++ b/test/urlMatcherFactorySpec.js
@@ -520,6 +520,12 @@ describe("urlMatcherFactory", function () {
       expect(m.format({ foo: 5, flag: true })).toBe("/5/1");
     });
 
+    it("should match built-in types with spaces", function () {
+      var m = new UrlMatcher("/{foo: int}/{flag:  bool}");
+      expect(m.exec("/1138/1")).toEqual({ foo: 1138, flag: true });
+      expect(m.format({ foo: 5, flag: true })).toBe("/5/1");
+    });
+
     it("should match types named only in params", function () {
       var m = new UrlMatcher("/{foo}/{flag}", {
         params: {