diff --git a/patrick-markdown/Makefile b/patrick-markdown/Makefile
index 36d826b..7672313 100644
--- a/patrick-markdown/Makefile
+++ b/patrick-markdown/Makefile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ endef
 
 # provide a title to pandoc. We take the first line starting with '#',
 # and remove initial '#' and spaces
-TITLE = $(shell sed -n '0,/^#/ s/^[# ]*//p' $1)
+TITLE = $(shell sed -n '0,/^\#/ s/^[\# ]*//p' $1)
 
 OPTS     = --standalone --include-in-header=$(CSSINC) --template=$(TEMPLATE) \
            --from=gfm --to=html5