diff --git a/core/manifest/ClassManifest.php b/core/manifest/ClassManifest.php
index 789df88e3..f0645fa4f 100644
--- a/core/manifest/ClassManifest.php
+++ b/core/manifest/ClassManifest.php
@@ -61,16 +61,16 @@ class SS_ClassManifest {
 	public static function get_namespaced_class_parser() {
 		return new TokenisedRegularExpression(array(
 			0 => T_CLASS,
-			1 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			1 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			2 => array(T_STRING, 'can_jump_to' => array(8, 16), 'save_to' => 'className'),
-			3 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			3 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			4 => T_EXTENDS,
-			5 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			5 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			6 => array(T_NS_SEPARATOR, 'save_to' => 'extends[]', 'optional' => true),
 			7 => array(T_STRING, 'save_to' => 'extends[]', 'can_jump_to' => array(6, 16)),
-			8 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			8 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			9 => T_IMPLEMENTS,
-			10 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			10 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			11 => array(T_NS_SEPARATOR, 'save_to' => 'interfaces[]', 'optional' => true),
 			12 => array(T_STRING, 'can_jump_to' => array(11, 16), 'save_to' => 'interfaces[]'),
 			13 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class SS_ClassManifest {
 	public static function get_namespace_parser() {
 		return new TokenisedRegularExpression(array(
 			0 => T_NAMESPACE,
-			1 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			1 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			2 => array(T_NS_SEPARATOR, 'save_to' => 'namespaceName[]', 'optional' => true),
 			3 => array(T_STRING, 'save_to' => 'namespaceName[]', 'can_jump_to' => 2),
 			4 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ class SS_ClassManifest {
 	public static function get_interface_parser() {
 		return new TokenisedRegularExpression(array(
 			0 => T_INTERFACE,
-			1 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			1 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			2 => array(T_STRING, 'save_to' => 'interfaceName')
 		));
 	}
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class SS_ClassManifest {
 	public static function get_imported_namespace_parser() {
 		return new TokenisedRegularExpression(array(
 			0 => T_USE,
-			1 => T_WHITESPACE,
+			1 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'optional' => true),
 			2 => array(T_NS_SEPARATOR, 'save_to' => 'importString[]', 'optional' => true),
 			3 => array(T_STRING, 'save_to' => 'importString[]', 'can_jump_to' => array(2, 8)),
 			4 => array(T_WHITESPACE, 'save_to' => 'importString[]'),
diff --git a/core/manifest/TokenisedRegularExpression.php b/core/manifest/TokenisedRegularExpression.php
index d52640d61..e3edb0e52 100644
--- a/core/manifest/TokenisedRegularExpression.php
+++ b/core/manifest/TokenisedRegularExpression.php
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@ class TokenisedRegularExpression {
 			}
 			else return true;
 		}
+		else if (in_array($tokens[$tokenPos][0], array(T_COMMENT, T_DOC_COMMENT, T_WHITESPACE))) {
+			return $this->matchFrom($tokenPos + 1, $expressionPos, $tokens, $matches);
+		}
 
 		return false;
 
diff --git a/tests/core/manifest/ClassManifestTest.php b/tests/core/manifest/ClassManifestTest.php
index 0a0e7ddc9..582b48e9f 100644
--- a/tests/core/manifest/ClassManifestTest.php
+++ b/tests/core/manifest/ClassManifestTest.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ class ClassManifestTest extends SapphireTest {
 			'classb'                   => "{$this->base}/module/classes/ClassB.php",
 			'classc'                   => "{$this->base}/module/classes/ClassC.php",
 			'classd'                   => "{$this->base}/module/classes/ClassD.php",
+			'classe'                   => "{$this->base}/module/classes/ClassE.php",
 			'sstemplateparser'         => FRAMEWORK_PATH."/view/SSTemplateParser.php",
 			'sstemplateparseexception' => FRAMEWORK_PATH."/view/SSTemplateParser.php"
 		);
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ class ClassManifestTest extends SapphireTest {
 
 	public function testGetClassNames() {
 		$this->assertEquals(
-			array('sstemplateparser', 'sstemplateparseexception', 'classa', 'classb', 'classc', 'classd'),
+			array('sstemplateparser', 'sstemplateparseexception', 'classa', 'classb', 'classc', 'classd', 'classe'),
 			$this->manifest->getClassNames());
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/core/manifest/fixtures/classmanifest/module/classes/ClassE.php b/tests/core/manifest/fixtures/classmanifest/module/classes/ClassE.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff0fc934a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/core/manifest/fixtures/classmanifest/module/classes/ClassE.php
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @ignore
+ */
+class/* */ClassE /**  */ //test
+{
+
+}