diff --git a/src/gitolite.pm b/src/gitolite.pm
index 4f6d3c9..f432074 100644
--- a/src/gitolite.pm
+++ b/src/gitolite.pm
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ our $W_COMMANDS=qr/^git[ -]receive-pack$/;
 # because in this version, a repo can have "CREATOR" in the name (see docs)
 our $REPONAME_PATT=qr(^\@?[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z._\@/+-]*$); # very simple pattern
 our $USERNAME_PATT=qr(^\@?[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z._\@+-]*$);  # very simple pattern
-# same as REPONAME, plus some common regex metas
-our $REPOPATT_PATT=qr(^\@?[0-9a-zA-Z][\\^.$|()[\]*+?{}0-9a-zA-Z._\@/-]*$);
+# same as REPONAME, but used for wildcard repos, allows some common regex metas
+our $REPOPATT_PATT=qr(^\@?[0-9a-zA-Z[][\\^.$|()[\]*+?{}0-9a-zA-Z._\@/-]*$);
 
 # these come from the RC file
 our ($REPO_UMASK, $GL_WILDREPOS, $GL_PACKAGE_CONF, $GL_PACKAGE_HOOKS, $REPO_BASE, $GL_CONF_COMPILED, $GL_BIG_CONFIG);