diff --git a/src/infrastructure/daemon/irc/handler/PhabricatorIRCObjectNameHandler.php b/src/infrastructure/daemon/irc/handler/PhabricatorIRCObjectNameHandler.php
index 6abcdaee74..e319484e7f 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/daemon/irc/handler/PhabricatorIRCObjectNameHandler.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/daemon/irc/handler/PhabricatorIRCObjectNameHandler.php
@@ -229,7 +229,8 @@ final class PhabricatorIRCObjectNameHandler extends PhabricatorIRCHandler {
     $text = $message->getMessageText();
 
     $matches = null;
-    if (!preg_match('/where(?: in the world) is (\S+?)\?/i', $text, $matches)) {
+    if (!preg_match('/where(?: in the world)? is (\S+?)\?/i',
+        $text, $matches)) {
       return;
     }