diff --git a/youtube_dl/utils.py b/youtube_dl/utils.py
index 70f2841498..9ab7288cc8 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/utils.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/utils.py
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ def write_json_file(obj, fn):
     def find_xpath_attr(node, xpath, key, val):
         """ Find the xpath xpath[@key=val] """
         assert re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z]+$', key)
-        assert re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9@\s]*$', val)
+        assert re.match(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9@\s:.]*$', val)
         expr = xpath + u"[@%s='%s']" % (key, val)
         return node.find(expr)
 else: