diff --git a/todo.sh b/todo.sh
index bfd0014..843ed86 100755
--- a/todo.sh
+++ b/todo.sh
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ case $action in
     [ -z "$todo" ] && die "$item: No such todo."
     [[ "$item" = +([0-9]) ]] || die "$errmsg"
 
-    sed -e $item"s/^(.*) //" "$TODO_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1
+    sed -e $item"s/^(.) //" "$TODO_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1
 
     if [ "$?" -eq 0 ]; then
         #it's all good, continue
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ case $action in
 
     now=`date '+%Y-%m-%d'`
     # remove priority once item is done
-    sed -i.bak $item"s/^(.*) //" "$TODO_FILE"
+    sed -i.bak $item"s/^(.) //" "$TODO_FILE"
     sed -i.bak $item"s|^|&x $now |" "$TODO_FILE"
     newtodo=$(sed "$item!d" "$TODO_FILE")
     [ $TODOTXT_VERBOSE -gt 0 ] && echo "$item: $newtodo"
@@ -807,11 +807,11 @@ note: PRIORITY must be anywhere from A to Z."
     [[ "$item" = +([0-9]) ]] || die "$errmsg"
     [[ "$newpri" = +([A-Z]) ]] || die "$errmsg"
 
-    sed -e $item"s/^(.*) //" -e $item"s/^/($newpri) /" "$TODO_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1
+    sed -e $item"s/^(.) //" -e $item"s/^/($newpri) /" "$TODO_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1
 
     if [ "$?" -eq 0 ]; then
         #it's all good, continue
-        sed -i.bak -e $2"s/^(.*) //" -e $2"s/^/($newpri) /" "$TODO_FILE"
+        sed -i.bak -e $2"s/^(.) //" -e $2"s/^/($newpri) /" "$TODO_FILE"
         NEWTODO=$(sed "$2!d" "$TODO_FILE")
         [ $TODOTXT_VERBOSE -gt 0 ] && echo -e "`echo "$item: $NEWTODO"`"
         [ $TODOTXT_VERBOSE -gt 0 ] && echo "TODO: $item prioritized ($newpri)."