diff --git a/plugins/Ctcp/plugin.py b/plugins/Ctcp/plugin.py
index 0512480d5..dafec6af2 100644
--- a/plugins/Ctcp/plugin.py
+++ b/plugins/Ctcp/plugin.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class Ctcp(callbacks.PluginRegexp):
         irc.reply(s, notice=True, private=True, to=msg.nick)
 
     def ctcpPing(self, irc, msg, match):
-        "\x01PING ?(.*)\x01"
+        "\x01PING(?: (.*))?\x01"
         self.log.info('Received CTCP PING from %s', msg.prefix)
         payload = match.group(1)
         if payload: