diff --git a/src/frontend/inpcom.c b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
index b3f87721a..7c07d2e45 100644
--- a/src/frontend/inpcom.c
+++ b/src/frontend/inpcom.c
@@ -1804,6 +1804,7 @@ inp_remove_excess_ws(struct line *deck )
   struct line *c = deck;
   while ( c != NULL ) {
     if ( *c->li_line == '*' ) { c = c->li_next; continue; }
+    if ( ciprefix( "alter", c->li_line ) ) { c = c->li_next; continue; } 
     c->li_line = inp_remove_ws(c->li_line);
     c = c->li_next;
   }