diff --git a/backbone.js b/backbone.js
index dabed49b..4295e47b 100644
--- a/backbone.js
+++ b/backbone.js
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@
   };
 
   // Cached regex for cleaning hashes.
-  var hashStrip = /^#*/;
+  var hashStrip = /^#/;
 
   // Cached regex for detecting MSIE.
   var isExplorer = /msie [\w.]+/;