diff --git a/pymacro/macros b/pymacro/macros
index 74583de..4046a94 100644
--- a/pymacro/macros
+++ b/pymacro/macros
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-.hc hydrocarbon
-.hy hydrogen
-.ca carbon
+.hc	hydrocarbon
+.hy	hydrogen
+.ca	carbon
 .ox	oxygen
 :wink:	😉
-source tests/test_macros_biology
-source tests/test_macros_custom_plurals
-source tests/test_macros_plural
+source	tests/test_macros_biology
+source	tests/test_macros_custom_plurals
+source	tests/test_macros_plural
diff --git a/pymacro/pymacro b/pymacro/pymacro
index e6a4a57..a8d7050 100755
--- a/pymacro/pymacro
+++ b/pymacro/pymacro
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def get_macros(input):
     response = []
 
     # turn input into unvalidated list of macros
-    macros = [re.split('[ \t]', x) for x in input.split('\n')]
+    macros = [re.split('[\t]', x) for x in input.split('\n')]
 
     # validate macros
     for index, macro in enumerate(macros):