--- a/scripts/pkg/private/fix_depends.m
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/fix_depends.m
@@ -28,38 +28,40 @@
 function deps_cell = fix_depends (depends)
   deps = strtrim (ostrsplit (tolower (depends), ","));
   deps_cell = cell (1, length (deps));
+  dep_pat = ...
+  '\s*(?<name>\w+)+\s*(\(\s*(?<op>[<>=]+)\s*(?<ver>\d+\.\d+(\.\d+)*)\s*\))*\s*';
 
   ## For each dependency.
   for i = 1:length (deps)
     dep = deps{i};
-    lpar = find (dep == "(");
-    rpar = find (dep == ")");
-    ## Does the dependency specify a version
-    ## Example: package(>= version).
-    if (length (lpar) == 1 && length (rpar) == 1)
-      package = tolower (strtrim (dep(1:lpar-1)));
-      sub = dep(lpar(1)+1:rpar(1)-1);
-      parts = strsplit (sub, " ", true);
-      if (length (parts) != 2)
-        error ("incorrect syntax for dependency '%s' in the DESCRIPTION file\n",
-               dep);
+    [start, nm] = regexp (dep, dep_pat, 'start', 'names');
+    ## Is the dependency specified 
+    ## in the correct format?
+    if (! isempty (start))
+      package = tolower (strtrim (nm.name));
+      ## Does the dependency specify a version
+      ## Example: package(>= version).
+      if (! isempty (nm.ver))
+        operator = nm.op;
+        if (! any (strcmp (operator, {">", ">=", "<=", "<", "=="})))
+          error ("unsupported operator: %s", operator);
+        endif
+        version = fix_version (nm.ver);
+        ## If no version is specified for the dependency
+        ## we say that the version should be greater than
+        ## or equal to "0.0.0".
+      else
+        package = tolower (strtrim (dep));
+        operator = ">=";
+        version  = "0.0.0";
       endif
-      operator = parts{1};
-      if (! any (strcmp (operator, {">", ">=", "<=", "<", "=="})))
-        error ("unsupported operator: %s", operator);
-      endif
-      version  = fix_version (parts{2});
-
-  ## If no version is specified for the dependency
-  ## we say that the version should be greater than
-  ## or equal to "0.0.0".
-  else
-    package = tolower (strtrim (dep));
-    operator = ">=";
-    version  = "0.0.0";
-  endif
-  deps_cell{i} = struct ("package", package, "operator", operator,
-                         "version", version);
+      deps_cell{i} = struct ("package", package, 
+                             "operator", operator,
+                             "version", version);
+    else
+      error ("incorrect syntax for dependency '%s' in the DESCRIPTION file\n",
+             dep);
+    endif
   endfor
 endfunction