diff --git a/tests/t1100-replace.sh b/tests/t1100-replace.sh
index 9336304..77ca9e1 100755
--- a/tests/t1100-replace.sh
+++ b/tests/t1100-replace.sh
@@ -164,4 +164,12 @@ TODO: Replaced task with:
 1 (A) 2010-07-04 this also has a new date
 EOF
 
+echo '2009-02-13 this is just a new one' > todo.txt
+test_todo_session 'replace with prepended priority and date replaces existing date' <<EOF
+>>> todo.sh replace 1 '(B) 2010-07-04 this also has a new date'
+1 2009-02-13 this is just a new one
+TODO: Replaced task with:
+1 (B) 2010-07-04 this also has a new date
+EOF
+
 test_done
diff --git a/todo.sh b/todo.sh
index b685afb..2afe912 100755
--- a/todo.sh
+++ b/todo.sh
@@ -389,21 +389,22 @@ replaceOrPrepend()
   else
     input=$*
   fi
-  cleaninput "for sed"
 
   # Retrieve existing priority and prepended date
-  priority=$(sed -e "$item!d" -e $item's/^\((.) \)\{0,1\}\([0-9]\{2,4\}-[0-9]\{2\}-[0-9]\{2\} \)\{0,1\}.*/\1/' "$TODO_FILE")
-  prepdate=$(sed -e "$item!d" -e $item's/^\((.) \)\{0,1\}\([0-9]\{2,4\}-[0-9]\{2\}-[0-9]\{2\} \)\{0,1\}.*/\2/' "$TODO_FILE")
+  local -r priAndDateExpr='^\((.) \)\{0,1\}\([0-9]\{2,4\}-[0-9]\{2\}-[0-9]\{2\} \)\{0,1\}'
+  priority=$(sed -e "$item!d" -e "${item}s/${priAndDateExpr}.*/\\1/" "$TODO_FILE")
+  prepdate=$(sed -e "$item!d" -e "${item}s/${priAndDateExpr}.*/\\2/" "$TODO_FILE")
 
-  if [ "$prepdate" -a "$action" = "replace" ] && [ "$(echo "$input"|sed -e 's/^\([0-9]\{2,4\}-[0-9]\{2\}-[0-9]\{2\}\)\{0,1\}.*/\1/')" ]; then
-    # If the replaced text starts with a date, it will replace the existing
-    # date, too.
+  if [ "$prepdate" -a "$action" = "replace" ] && [ "$(echo "$input"|sed -e "s/${priAndDateExpr}.*/\\1\\2/")" ]; then
+      # If the replaced text starts with a [priority +] date, it will replace
+      # the existing date, too.
     prepdate=
   fi
 
   # Temporarily remove any existing priority and prepended date, perform the
   # change (replace/prepend) and re-insert the existing priority and prepended
   # date again.
+  cleaninput "for sed"
   sed -i.bak -e "$item s/^${priority}${prepdate}//" -e "$item s|^.*|${priority}${prepdate}${input}${backref}|" "$TODO_FILE"
   if [ $TODOTXT_VERBOSE -gt 0 ]; then
     getNewtodo "$item"