diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index fc3dea7..121f264 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ function parseTokenList (str) {
   // gather tokens
   for (var i = 0, len = str.length; i < len; i++) {
     switch (str.charCodeAt(i)) {
+      case 0x09: /* HTAB */
       case 0x20: /*   */
         if (start === end) {
           start = end = i + 1
diff --git a/test/fresh.js b/test/fresh.js
index ebedc03..7c72e5f 100644
--- a/test/fresh.js
+++ b/test/fresh.js
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ describe('fresh(reqHeaders, resHeaders)', function () {
         var resHeaders = { etag: '"foo"' }
         assert.ok(fresh(reqHeaders, resHeaders))
       })
+
+      it('should be fresh when the list is separated with tabs', function () {
+        var reqHeaders = { 'if-none-match': '"bar",\t"foo"' }
+        var resHeaders = { etag: '"foo"' }
+        assert.ok(fresh(reqHeaders, resHeaders))
+      })
     })
 
     describe('when etag is missing', function () {