diff --git a/uberwriter/markup_regex.py b/uberwriter/markup_regex.py
index 9a2ef7e..25314a9 100644
--- a/uberwriter/markup_regex.py
+++ b/uberwriter/markup_regex.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ CODE_BLOCK = re.compile(
 TABLE = re.compile(
     r"^[\-+]{5,}\n(?P<text>.+?)\n[\-+]{5,}\n", re.S)
 MATH = re.compile(
-    r"([$]{1,2})[^` ](?P<text>.+?)[^`\\ ]\1")
+    r"([$]{1,2})(?P<text>[^` ].+?[^`\\ ])\1")
 FOOTNOTE_ID = re.compile(
     r"[^\s]+\[\^(?P<id>(?P<text>[^\s]+))\]")
 FOOTNOTE = re.compile(