diff --git a/src/variable.cpp b/src/variable.cpp
index a698674b0e..4fd502f518 100644
--- a/src/variable.cpp
+++ b/src/variable.cpp
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ void Variable::copy(int narg, char **from, char **to)
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    recursive evaluation of a "string"
    string is defined as one of several items:
-     number =  0.0, -5.45, 2.8e-4, ...
+     number = 0.0, -5.45, 2.8e-4, ...
      thermo keyword = ke, vol, atoms, ...
      variable keyword = v_a, v_myvar, ...
      math function = div(x,y), mult(x,y), add(x,y), ...