diff --git a/drivers/misc/thinkpad_acpi.c b/drivers/misc/thinkpad_acpi.c
index 81693b4..37891a8 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/thinkpad_acpi.c
+++ b/drivers/misc/thinkpad_acpi.c
@@ -709,6 +709,8 @@
 {
 	char *endp;
 
+	while (*buf && isspace(*buf))
+		buf++;
 	*value = simple_strtoul(buf, &endp, 0);
 	while (*endp && isspace(*endp))
 		endp++;