diff --git a/aider/watch.py b/aider/watch.py
index 0a89ffd9a..994e55277 100644
--- a/aider/watch.py
+++ b/aider/watch.py
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ def get_ai_comment(filepath, encoding="utf-8"):
     try:
         with open(filepath, encoding=encoding, errors="ignore") as f:
             for line in f:#ai
-                if match := re.search(r"(?:#|//) *ai\b?(.*)", line, re.IGNORECASE):
+                if match := re.search(r"(?:#|//) *ai(\b.*)?", line, re.IGNORECASE):
                     comment = match.group(1).strip()
                     if comment:
                         comments.append(comment)