diff --git a/gnu/build/linux-modules.scm b/gnu/build/linux-modules.scm
index a28908fe4d..d69bcbf5a2 100644
--- a/gnu/build/linux-modules.scm
+++ b/gnu/build/linux-modules.scm
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ (define (parse-softdep text)
       (match tokens
        ((token rest ...)
         (if (string=? (string-take-right token 1) ":") ; section
-            (loop value rest (string-trim-both token))
+            (loop value rest (string-trim-both (string-drop-right token 1)))
             (loop (cons (cons section token) value) rest section)))
        (()
         value))))