diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
index c27f2cd95..b35bf03aa 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
@@ -1384,7 +1384,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
         funcname = self._search_regex(
             (r'\b[cs]\s*&&\s*[adf]\.set\([^,]+\s*,\s*encodeURIComponent\s*\(\s*(?P<sig>[a-zA-Z0-9$]+)\(',
              r'\b[a-zA-Z0-9]+\s*&&\s*[a-zA-Z0-9]+\.set\([^,]+\s*,\s*encodeURIComponent\s*\(\s*(?P<sig>[a-zA-Z0-9$]+)\(',
-             r'\b(?P<sig>[a-zA-Z0-9$]{2})\s*=\s*function\(\s*a\s*\)\s*{\s*a\s*=\s*a\.split\(\s*""\s*\)',
+             r'(?:\b|[^a-zA-Z0-9$])(?P<sig>[a-zA-Z0-9$]{2})\s*=\s*function\(\s*a\s*\)\s*{\s*a\s*=\s*a\.split\(\s*""\s*\)',
              r'(?P<sig>[a-zA-Z0-9$]+)\s*=\s*function\(\s*a\s*\)\s*{\s*a\s*=\s*a\.split\(\s*""\s*\)',
              # Obsolete patterns
              r'(["\'])signature\1\s*,\s*(?P<sig>[a-zA-Z0-9$]+)\(',