diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go
index 65fedc92a..ad08fdc39 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go
@@ -727,6 +727,16 @@ func Test_Cataloger_PositiveCases(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			// TODO: find original binary...
 			// note: cannot find the original binary, using a custom snippet based on the original snippet in the repo
+			logicalFixture: "go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any",
+			expected: pkg.Package{
+				Name:      "go",
+				Version:   "1.15",
+				PURL:      "pkg:generic/go@1.15",
+				Locations: locations("bin/go", "VERSION"),
+				Metadata:  metadata("go-binary"),
+			},
+		},
+		{
 			logicalFixture: "go-version-hint/1.15/any",
 			expected: pkg.Package{
 				Name:      "go",
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go
index ec2f9b62c..775970026 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ func DefaultClassifiers() []binutils.Classifier {
 					`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+)?)\x00`),
 				binutils.SupportingEvidenceMatcher("VERSION*",
 					m.FileContentsVersionMatcher(
-						`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+|-[_0-9a-z]+)?)\s`)),
+						`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+|-[_0-9a-z]+)?)`)),
 				binutils.SupportingEvidenceMatcher("../VERSION*",
 					m.FileContentsVersionMatcher(
-						`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+|-[_0-9a-z]+)?)\s`)),
+						`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+|-[_0-9a-z]+)?)`)),
 			),
 			Package: "go",
 			PURL:    mustPURL("pkg:generic/go@version"),
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any/VERSION b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c595336d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+go1.15 Fri 2003
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any/bin/go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any/bin/go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ae382e1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15-dev/any/bin/go
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+no version in this binary
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15/any/VERSION b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15/any/VERSION
index 1c595336d..4b9a234fa 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15/any/VERSION
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/testdata/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.15/any/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-go1.15 Fri 2003
\ No newline at end of file
+go1.15
\ No newline at end of file