diff --git a/Modules/gdbmmodule.c b/Modules/gdbmmodule.c
index accf438..03e664d 100644
--- a/Modules/gdbmmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/gdbmmodule.c
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@
 dbmopen(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
     char *name;
-    char *flags = "r ";
+    char *flags = "r";
     int iflags;
     int mode = 0666;