--- etags.c.orig	2009-06-21 06:37:34.000000000 +0200
+++ etags.c	2010-01-27 13:21:07.646105000 +0100
@@ -4108,6 +4108,10 @@
       dbp = skip_spaces (dbp);
       if (*dbp == '\0')
 	continue;
+
+      if (LOOKING_AT_NOCASE (dbp, "recursive"))
+	dbp = skip_spaces (dbp);
+
       switch (lowcase (*dbp))
 	{
 	case 'i':