diff --git a/lib/rubygems/specification_policy.rb b/lib/rubygems/specification_policy.rb
index 1f1f73b11f88..c30ec707d983 100644
--- a/lib/rubygems/specification_policy.rb
+++ b/lib/rubygems/specification_policy.rb
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ def validate_licenses
   end
 
   LAZY = '"FIxxxXME" or "TOxxxDO"'.gsub(/xxx/, '')
-  LAZY_PATTERN = /FI XME|TO DO/x.freeze
+  LAZY_PATTERN = /^FI XME|^TO DO/x.freeze
   HOMEPAGE_URI_PATTERN = /\A[a-z][a-z\d+.-]*:/i.freeze
 
   def validate_lazy_metadata
diff --git a/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb b/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
index 88afa3faa015..782ae0380fcc 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/test_gem_specification.rb
@@ -2781,6 +2781,20 @@ def test_validate_description
       end
 
       assert_equal %("#{f}" or "#{t}" is not a description), e.message
+
+      # Adding #{f} anywhere after the start of the description should be fine.
+      @a1.description = "(some description) #{f}"
+
+      assert_nothing_raised do
+        @a1.validate
+      end
+
+      # Adding #{t} anywhere after the start of the description should be fine.
+      @a1.description = "(some description) #{t}"
+
+      assert_nothing_raised do
+        @a1.validate
+      end
     end
   end