diff --git a/crossplane/builder.py b/crossplane/builder.py
index 6dbe86f..4cb3831 100644
--- a/crossplane/builder.py
+++ b/crossplane/builder.py
@@ -96,10 +96,7 @@ def _build_lines(objs):
         state['depth'] = state['depth'] + 1
 
         for obj in objs:
-            directive = obj['directive']
-
-            if directive == '':
-                directive = _enquote(directive)
+            directive = _enquote(obj['directive'])
 
             if directive in EXTERNAL_BUILDERS:
                 external_builder = EXTERNAL_BUILDERS[directive]
diff --git a/tests/configs/directive-with-space/nginx.conf b/tests/configs/directive-with-space/nginx.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f187048
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/configs/directive-with-space/nginx.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+events {
+}
+http {
+    map $http_user_agent $mobile {
+        default       0;
+        '~Opera Mini' 1;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/test_build.py b/tests/test_build.py
index 9c09443..45a35a2 100644
--- a/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/tests/test_build.py
@@ -256,3 +256,7 @@ def test_compare_parsed_and_built_russian_text(tmpdir):
 
 def test_compare_parsed_and_built_quoted_right_brace(tmpdir):
     compare_parsed_and_built('quoted-right-brace', 'nginx.conf', tmpdir)
+
+
+def test_compare_parsed_and_built_directive_with_space(tmpdir):
+    compare_parsed_and_built('directive-with-space', 'nginx.conf', tmpdir)