diff --git a/yadm b/yadm
index 2f5c4c1..da7d609 100755
--- a/yadm
+++ b/yadm
@@ -110,9 +110,12 @@ function alt() {
 
   #; regex for matching "<file>##SYSTEM.HOSTNAME.USER"
   match_system=$(uname -s)
+  match_system="(%|$match_system)"
   match_host=$(hostname)
   match_host=${match_host%%.*} #; trim any domain from hostname
+  match_host="(%|$match_host)"
   match_user=$(id -u -n)
+  match_user="(%|$match_user)"
   match="^(.+)##($match_system|$match_system\.$match_host|$match_system\.$match_host\.$match_user|())$"
 
   #; process relative to YADM_WORK