diff --git a/lib/bb/data_smart.py b/lib/bb/data_smart.py
index 8aa7c1f99..3c149239f 100644
--- a/lib/bb/data_smart.py
+++ b/lib/bb/data_smart.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ from bb.COW  import COWDictBase
 logger = logging.getLogger("BitBake.Data")
 
 __setvar_keyword__ = [":append", ":prepend", ":remove"]
-__setvar_regexp__ = re.compile(r'(?P<base>.*?)(?P<keyword>:append|:prepend|:remove)(:(?P<add>[^A-Z]*))?$')
+__setvar_regexp__ = re.compile(r'(?P<base>.*?)(?P<keyword>:append|:prepend|:remove)(:(?P<add>.*))?$')
 __expand_var_regexp__ = re.compile(r"\${[a-zA-Z0-9\-_+./~:]+}")
 __expand_python_regexp__ = re.compile(r"\${@(?:{.*?}|.)+?}")
 __whitespace_split__ = re.compile(r'(\s)')