diff --git a/lib/library.cpp b/lib/library.cpp
index 3caf7e70a69..96df481171d 100644
--- a/lib/library.cpp
+++ b/lib/library.cpp
@@ -434,7 +434,9 @@ Library::Error Library::load(const tinyxml2::XMLDocument &doc)
             const char* const startPattern = node->Attribute("startPattern");
             if (startPattern) {
                 container.startPattern = startPattern;
-                container.startPattern2 = container.startPattern + " !!::";
+                container.startPattern2 = startPattern;
+                if (!endsWith(container.startPattern, '<'))
+                    container.startPattern2 += " !!::";
             }
             const char* const endPattern = node->Attribute("endPattern");
             if (endPattern)