diff --git a/kpatch-build/kpatch-build b/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
index 266426e..dba68da 100755
--- a/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
+++ b/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ find_dirs() {
 
 gcc_version_check() {
 	# ensure gcc version matches that used to build the kernel
-	local gccver=$(gcc --version |head -n1 |cut -d' ' -f2-)
-	local kgccver=$(readelf -p .comment $VMLINUX |grep GCC: | tr -s ' ' | cut -d ' ' -f5-)
+	local gccver=$(gcc --version | head -n1 | cut -d' ' -f2- | sed 's/GNU/GCC/g')
+	local kgccver=$(readelf -p .comment $VMLINUX | grep GCC: | tr -s ' ' | cut -d ' ' -f5- | sed 's/GNU/GCC/g')
 	if [[ "$gccver" != "$kgccver" ]]; then
 		warn "gcc/kernel version mismatch"
 		echo "gcc version:    $gccver"