diff --git a/exec/load/newsutil.js b/exec/load/newsutil.js
index 564f9bc3ef8962029fffaf7971de62efd9d13a07..8382b8777156cccf9eaf07edfaac03e50c6954f0 100755
--- a/exec/load/newsutil.js
+++ b/exec/load/newsutil.js
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ function parse_news_header(hdr, line)
 		case "references":
 			hdr.references=data;
 			if(!hdr.reply_id && data.length)
-				hdr.reply_id=data.match(/(?:\S+\s)*(\S+)$/)[1];
+				hdr.reply_id=data.match(/<[^\<]*>$/);
 			break;
 		case "user-agent":
 			hdr.editor=data;