diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cf81d393b..6eb785917 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ if(enable-python OR enable-python-bindings)
   message(STATUS "python include path   ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
   message(STATUS "python libraries path ${PYTHON_LIBRARY_PATH}")
   message(STATUS "python library        ${PYTHON_LIBRARY}")
-  string(REGEX REPLACE "[a-z]+.*$" "" PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_CLEANED "${PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_STRING}")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "[-a-z+]+.*$" "" PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_CLEANED "${PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_STRING}")
   find_package(PythonInterp ${PYTHONLIBS_VERSION_CLEANED} REQUIRED)
   message(STATUS "python interpreter    ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE}")
   if(NOT TFEL_PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES_DIR)