diff --git a/modules/python/src2/hdr_parser.py b/modules/python/src2/hdr_parser.py
index a5ecae04c707e6b088bf54b321fd24c84a4f7af8..da90d808213a3ff93d074e4d97548980bfbdb44d 100755
--- a/modules/python/src2/hdr_parser.py
+++ b/modules/python/src2/hdr_parser.py
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ class CppHeaderParser(object):
             l = l[:npos] + l[npos3+1:]
 
         l = self.batch_replace(l, [("CV_EXPORTS_W", ""), ("CV_EXPORTS", ""), ("public virtual ", " "), ("public ", " "), ("::", ".")]).strip()
-        ll = re.split(r'\s*[,:]?\s*', l)
+        ll = re.split(r'\s+|\s*[,:]\s*', l)
         ll = [le for le in ll if le]
         classname = ll[1]
         bases = ll[2:]