diff --git a/libexec/goenv-version-file-read b/libexec/goenv-version-file-read
index 94059662..bd0ec1ba 100755
--- a/libexec/goenv-version-file-read
+++ b/libexec/goenv-version-file-read
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ fi
 # NOTE: Read the first non-whitespace word from the specified version file.
 # Be careful not to load it whole in case there's something crazy in it.
 IFS="${IFS}"$'\r'
-words=($(cut -b 1-1024 "$VERSION_FILE" | sed 's/^\s*\(\S\+\).*/\1/'))
+words=($(cut -b 1-1024 "$VERSION_FILE" | sed -n 's/^[[:space:]]*\([^[:space:]#][^[:space:]]*\).*/\1/p'))
+
 versions=("${words[@]}")
 
 if [ ! -n "$versions" ]; then