diff --git a/src/MOLECULE/angle_table.cpp b/src/MOLECULE/angle_table.cpp
index 0be817acc7..88b1f97ac6 100644
--- a/src/MOLECULE/angle_table.cpp
+++ b/src/MOLECULE/angle_table.cpp
@@ -379,7 +379,8 @@ void AngleTable::read_table(Table *tb, char *file, char *keyword)
       error->one(FLERR,"Did not find keyword in table file");
     if (strspn(line," \t\n") == strlen(line)) continue;    // blank line
     if (line[0] == '#') continue;                          // comment
-    if (strstr(line,keyword) == line) break;               // matching keyword
+    char *word = strtok(line," \t\n\r");
+    if (strcmp(word,keyword) == 0) break;           // matching keyword
     fgets(line,MAXLINE,fp);                         // no match, skip section
     param_extract(tb,line);
     fgets(line,MAXLINE,fp);
diff --git a/src/MOLECULE/bond_table.cpp b/src/MOLECULE/bond_table.cpp
index 1f83c7980f..dc6a637d8b 100644
--- a/src/MOLECULE/bond_table.cpp
+++ b/src/MOLECULE/bond_table.cpp
@@ -302,7 +302,8 @@ void BondTable::read_table(Table *tb, char *file, char *keyword)
       error->one(FLERR,"Did not find keyword in table file");
     if (strspn(line," \t\n") == strlen(line)) continue;    // blank line
     if (line[0] == '#') continue;                          // comment
-    if (strstr(line,keyword) == line) break;               // matching keyword
+    char *word = strtok(line," \t\n\r");
+    if (strcmp(word,keyword) == 0) break;           // matching keyword
     fgets(line,MAXLINE,fp);                         // no match, skip section
     param_extract(tb,line);
     fgets(line,MAXLINE,fp);
diff --git a/src/USER-MISC/dihedral_table.cpp b/src/USER-MISC/dihedral_table.cpp
index 89d4b6e39d..7465779c0d 100644
--- a/src/USER-MISC/dihedral_table.cpp
+++ b/src/USER-MISC/dihedral_table.cpp
@@ -703,7 +703,8 @@ void DihedralTable::read_table(Table *tb, char *file, char *keyword)
     }
     if (strspn(line," \t\n\r") == strlen(line)) continue;  // blank line
     if (line[0] == '#') continue;                          // comment
-    if (strstr(line,keyword) == line) break;               // matching keyword
+    char *word = strtok(line," \t\n\r");
+    if (strcmp(word,keyword) == 0) break;           // matching keyword
     fgets(line,MAXLINE,fp);                         // no match, skip section
     param_extract(tb,line);
     fgets(line,MAXLINE,fp);